Grimm Reaper's Extensions
by Storm Reaper VII
Summary: A collection of extra stories, past events, and other happening that didn't fit into the main story. Follow Ragna and RWBY in their more casual day to day lives around Beacon and watch as the chaos unfolds.
1. Tales of the Grimm Reaper I

_**Hey everyone, it's Storm VII here and I'll be telling you how this little extra section is going to work, so listen up and listen good.**_

_**For those you you that got here by accident and didn't read the title, this is an extension piece for my main 'Grimm Reaper's of Remnant' storyline. There were some minor events I only alluded to in story and promised to cover in more detail in its own section (based on the poll that I held).**_

_**Additionally, maybe I'll have an idea (like this chapter) or another suggestion given to me that while it won't fit into the larger narrative, I'll at least be able to write it down here and see the group's reaction to it. If it's good enough, maybe I'll find a way to incorporate it into the story as a whole, but for now they'll be here as short little telling of funny ideas.**_

_**While I'd recommend reading through all of the current updates in the base story first, I'll be putting a small message at the start of each chapter to tell you the selected reading that you should have covered for each of these extras just so the context makes sense. With that said, I hope you enjoy.**_

(Suggested Reading: Up to _Crimson XV Black Reunion_)

"So the weak spot should be… here?" Yang asked, pointing to a small spot on her diagram of a large _Ursa Grimm_.

"You asking or telling me?" Ragna asked, not bothering to look up from his own note taking. "Remember, they don't have normal weaknesses like we do. The don't got organs, they don't need to eat, and most of 'em barely need to breath. You don't aim for vital points in the same way, you just aim for places that have less resistance or a gap in the armor if you can find it."

"So you're telling me to send an exploding shot down it's mouth, is that-?" Yang began before taking notes on what she'd just thought of.

"Oif…" Weiss sighed as she thought over Yang's crude idea of _Grimm_ elimination.

"Hey, you gotta work with what you have," the Reaper told her as he moved on with his notes. "Like with Blake, what's your approach for that _Alpha Beowolf _that you were asking about?"

"Use my semblance, get the monster to follow my fake, get it to the spearpoint I set up, tie it up with my weapon and cause it to fall onto the point," Blake told him, smirking as she thought over her plan. "Bigger they are-"

"Harder they fall," Ragna finished as he looked back to Weiss. "Besides, you have how many steps for taking care of your monster? Ten? Twelve?"

"...Eighteen… so far," she admitted. Ragna slowly face palmed as he shook his head. "My- my plans require a lot of forethought and setup to be truly effective! All of these steps are necessary!"

"Are they though? I think you could settle this a lot faster if you just trip the thing up with your glyphs and stab it in it's weak spot," her team lead, Ruby Rose, suggested.

"Yeah, go with that. You're supposed to be fighting in an icy terrain anyways so you don't need that much help to get it off balance," Ragna agreed. "If you go with a straightforward approach, it'll mean that monster won't get a chance to call for help or for trouble to find you. Why do you think I try to finish every fight I get into in less than a minute?"

"...I don't think I'd want to fight at your level brutality," Weiss told him with a groan, leaving Ragna to give a small smirk. "I'm serious, half the time you fight your strategy is just to keep slicing until there's nothing left standing!"

"Yeah, that's cause I have it in me to pull it off. Big weapon, wide ranged fighting style; doubt you could pull it off with that rapier of yours," the Reaper taunted. The Schnee heir had enough, threw her pen and left Ragna to snag it out of the air and offer it back to her with a chuckle. She eventually conceded as she shook her head and took her pen back, almost smirking at how unbearable Ragna's could be the few times he was this playful.

"Aw, don't worry about it Weiss, it's not like I haven't needed help before myself," Ruby said, trying to give her partner some confidence as she smiled brightly. "Back at _Signal_ I was a total mess before I got help from my Uncle Qrow; all of his pointers really came in handy." She then looked to the tall piles of books on the material the group still had yet to work on. "...Could _kinda_ use a tip or two from him right now."

"Hmph, don't bother…" Ragna said as his playful expression quickly faded. "It'd be better to study anyways, outright taking what Qrow thinks as helpful is a good way of getting you into trouble."

"You're saying that like you're speaking from experience," Yang said as she finished writing her notes before closing her book. "Now's as good a time for a break as any, let's hear it."

"Hear it?" the Reaper asked before he shook his head. "C'mon, you don't want to hear one of _those_ stories."

"And why not?" came a familiar voice behind him, causing the Reaper to flinch before he turned around and saw his younger sibling, adjusting his glasses as he carried a large stack of books. "You've never told me any such story, and I'm your brother."

"And we're your team," came Tsubaki's voice as she stood with the other three members of Team _RAIN_ standing right behind Jin, evidently having walked to the library together. "Knowing a little more about my partner's past couldn't hurt, could it?"

"..." Ragna turned to Noel.

"I mean… if you don't mind saying it," the blonde decided nervously.

"..." Then to Azrael.

"...What? It's for you to say, not me," the local _Mad Dog_ muttered as he pulled up a chair from a nearby study table and seated his large frame in the rather small chair. "You seem heavily outnumbered though."

"This is supposed to be a library, not a damn gossip corner," the Reaper sighed as he thought back.

There was no way in hell he could tell them about the recent situation with the magazines, not without making his academy life a living hell if the rumors got out. Their first meeting might have been a good place to start for a story… but unless he had to tell them _why_ he had to do what he did, it wouldn't make sense and he had to keep as much about Jubei a secret (save for Blake). In the end, he decided on a different story… but he didn't like this one at all.

"...Let me make this clear… not a _damn _word of this leaves this room," he told them crassly, a deep glare in his eyes aimed at everyone. Even after saying what he had, the Reaper couldn't help but notice that a couple of students in the nearby seat seemed to be glancing up from the books they were reading. Sighing, he decided word would get out sooner than later with his luck and he might as well bite the bullet now. "Right then… here's something from my past."

_**Extra 001: Tales of the Grimm Reaper I**_

_This happened about two years ago, maybe closer to a year and a half? Doesn't matter. The important part is that I'd been training with my teacher for a while now and I'd been learning to make a life for myself out in the wilderlands. Surviving out there is tough enough as is, but it can be even harder on someone my age. If you don't have a Hunter License, it's nearly impossible to find work in the outlying towns and what you do find is often going to be the jobs that no one else is going to take. It could be tough trying to earn enough to eat… which made Vacuo seem like a godsend at the time._

_The lands were harsh, lethal, and had plenty of deadly monsters that would kill you in an instant. Some people say that it can be the most dangerous out of any kingdom and they'd probably be right. It's a land where either you live long enough to grow tough as nails, or you die young and you're forgotten in under a year. It was that value of strength was what helped me pull through. Down there they don't like governments much and can barely tolerate the Academy as it is. It's rare to go up to someone for a job and expect to be asked for your Hunter's License. You got enough balls to take a job and they'll give it to you. But you shouldn't expect to see a damn cent before the work is done. You either both take each other at your word, or the employer takes your demands as an insult and looks for someone else to hire._

_I don't want to brag, but even though I'd only been in the kingdom for a couple of months I'd already started to make a name for myself. I'd gone against some pretty nasty Grimm and some even nastier bandits on the road and I'd managed to make it back without a scratch on me. Before I'd entered the kingdom I had changed my arsenal from the rusty swords that kept breaking on me and used a large chunk of my savings to buy a pretty decent scythe that I found a good deal on. I didn't have a long coat or anything like that at the time, but after some jobs with it a few places started spreading rumors and called me the __**Grimm Reaper of Vacuo.**_ _...I figured that my Master would tell me not to get too big an ego from the new title, but he actually seemed to like it as did Ruby and Yang's uncle, Qrow Branwen. They started saying I was the __**Third Grimm Reaper**__. Even if I could guess that the old bird probably wanted to be seen as one of them, they never bothered telling me who the remaining Reaper was._

_I was out in the woods with my master at the time, not far from the next city but we liked to stay out of town all the same. I hadn't even known Qrow was in Vacuo until he found us both at our campsite, but he said he'd been looking for us... that he had work for me._

"You want me to go to work for a Mob Boss?" Ragna asked as he added cooking oil to the pan, tossing its contents around as it quickly began to heat up. "What makes you think they can be trusted?"

"Come on; even some of the Mobs can be trusted in Vacuo and you've got to have both power and connections to hold onto a position like that," Qrow explained before taking a long swig of his prized flask. "This guy's supposed to have plenty of both."

"Maybe he does, but that doesn't mean I want Ragna getting in too deep with their kind," Jubei said, relaxing his back on a job as the campfire cackled in front of the three, providing them with warmth in cold night as well as cooking Ragna's dinner. "This Headstrong whippersnapper gets inta enough trouble on his own, doesn't need you to give 'em any help."

"Like that job back in Haven was my fault," the Reaper muttered as he gave the contents in the pan another toss. "What the hell's the job anyways? Is the reward even worth the pain in the ass?"

"There's not much to say much on the job; there's an especially dangerous _Grimm_ out there that this guy needs taken out and it's been giving him too much trouble so he's been calling in Huntsmen around the area for more help. There's even less to say about the reward except…" Qrow gave Ragna a quick smirk. "He promises it's enough to have you _set for life._"

"That's not ominous," Ragna said harshly, already knowing how much his luck sucked to this point.

"Hey, at least you know to be skeptic… that aside, I sort of need this as a favor," Qrow admitted as he looked up at the broken moon of Remnant with a hint of remorse. "I've been hearing about a lot of people that have taken this job… only a few of them managed to make it back and all of them had pretty bad scars and bitter tales. I want this job off the market."

"And yer askin' him… because?" Jubei questioned the old bird.

"Hey, I doubt Ozpin would appreciate it if I went poking my nose in with the Mob; this kid doesn't have that problem," Qrow told them. "Besides, I kinda want to see if he can actually take this thing on; if nothing else it might make for a good test to see how far he's come… and there's _still_ a chance he could get a hell of a payday."

"...Fine, but you owe me for this one dammit," Ragna muttered as he dished out two bowls of food and put two sets of recently carved chopsticks into both of them. Respectfully handing off one of the bowls to his master, he then forcefully shoved the other into Qrows hands. The older man didn't say anything at his treatment… though he did begin pouring the alcohol from his flask into the bowl Ragna had prepared. "Are you trying to spite me?"

"Come on, I'm not petty. This just adds to your cooking... for me at least," Qrow said as he began mixing it together with his chopsticks. Before taking his first bite, he looked at the empty pan. "You're not eating?"

"Like hell, I just have to get another half portion going for myself," Ragna said as he began chopping vegetables for his second pan.

"Make it a full one, you'll need if you've got a busy day tomorrow," Jubei instructed, munching on his food without a word of praise or criticism.

"Also I want seconds," Qrow said though his own mouthful of food.

"Tch, now you've got to be spiting me."

"Nope, not yet anyways."

_The next morning I headed out for the next town, hoping that I'd get this job over with quickly. The town wasn't too far from our campsite, but I still ran into a couple of small fry Grimm on the way there. I had to take them down alone; Jubei said that this was my business and I couldn't wake Qrow out of his hangover. Chances were he wouldn't be moving until he tried to refill his booze supply, but I couldn't be bothered by that too much. The place I was going to already meant enough trouble without dealing with his morning antics._

_With Vacuo's history, they had a deep hatred for mining towns especially after it had wrecked them so badly. For anyone to stay in power with a mining operation after that series of disasters, they'd need to send a clear message that they weren't to be screwed with. I saw that in spades when I got close to the city; pikes outside the city streets were topped with severed heads in a gruesome display. The top of the cities large walls had high powered weaponry and the guards patrolling about looked like they'd seen some shit… I didn't get scared, but I wanted to get this job done and get out of there as soon as I could._

"And what do you want?" one of the guards demanded as Ragna got closer. He was dressed in ragged leather clothing and held onto a powerful looking submachine gun. His partner had even broader shoulders and carried a broad ax on his back.

"I'm here to talk to your boss," Ragna told them. As expected they both had sort of odd looks to them as they looked down at Ragna. By this point he hadn't hit my major growth spurt and so these guys both had some height on him. Ragna half-expected them to start laughing, but the one with an axe shook his head.

"Is this about the job?" His tone almost seemed bitter about the whole prospect, something Ragna couldn't quite piece together why. Maybe because he'd seen too many people going in for the job and he'd noticed all of the ones that hadn't come back? "Fine then, our boss will want to talk to you first thing."

"In person?" Ragna questioned.

"That going to be a problem?" the second guard asked. If Ragna didn't know any better it seemed like they wanted to pressure him out of taking the job. Of course, he wasn't one for turning down a challenge so it wouldn't work that easily.

"Not a problem, just seems kind of excessive if he's been meeting everyone that's been going out on the job. Couldn't he leave that to you guys? ...No offense."

"Boss man has his own way of doing things, just follow me then and stay close," the guard with an axe said as he looked up at the tower and pumped his fist into the air. On the high end of the wall one of the guard got the signal that they were heading in. A thrice tap on the wall was a return response as the two headed inside.

_I figured taking a look at the city would be a good way to see what kind of trouble I was going to be getting into just meeting this guy. Those severed heads at the entrance had put me on guard enough as it was, but it was judging the people who were still alive in this place that would tell me the full story. The people were a mix of Humans and Fanus were scattered around; men, woman, a few children. You don't find too many elderly out in this part of Vacuo with it's live fast and die hard mentality, but I still saw a few old men and women in the city. Many of them looked like they were sizing me up as I passed them by… but in Vacuo that might as well be waving hello. While their housing was on the cruder side with a rubble built houses and tent flaps to serve as their doors, that might've just been a regional preference instead of poverty since none of them really looked like they'd been starving._

_The main fortress wasn't really what you'd call posh either, at least not at first. It took me a second to realize it, but this thing had a strange sort of hierarchy going to it; the closer you got to the Mob Boss's chambers, the better the place and the people in it would look. As the entrance there were a lot of iron bars and other barricades in place for if this place ever got attacked and the people guarding it were no different from the thugs escorting me. While the floors inside the main lobby were cleaned, there was obvious signs that there had been a couple of brawls with cracks in the walls and the occasional bullet hole. Further in, the halls were spotless with a few antiques put on pedestals to show off and a long rug covering the floors. The thugs here were wearing business suits and their weapons looked to be well kept and had more advanced designs to them. At the end of the hallways laid the door to the Mob Leader's office._

"..." Ragna's guide stayed paused before the door for a long moment, seeming to steel himself with an encounter with his boss. Nodding, he then gave a few strong taps on the door. "It's me. We've got another hopeful."

"Good. Bring them in."

_The Boss's voice sounded both gruff and deep, just hearing it made me realize that I was dealing with someone especially powerful. As the giant doors opened, I got a look at the boss's level of the hierarchy. His office alone was about the size of our Academy's mess hall and it was decorated with expensive paintings, statutes, and even a fancy fountain off to the side. The office was well furnished too with expensive chairs, couches, and large glass door cabinets with a few rare artifacts inside. The boss of this Mob sat behind a large oak desk, moving a few pieces of paper off to the side as he stared me down._

_Even while he was sitting down I could tell that this guy was someone who had fought tooth and nail to earn his that seat he was in. He stood at well over two meters tall and had giant muscles to make his body seem even broader. Part of that might've had to do with his heritage, the guy looked like he had some sort of bull blood in him with the large horns coming out of his head… specifically Bison if you needed to split hairs. He had dark long hair that formed a messy mane and a long beard to complete the look. Even though he was wearing a formal business suit his forearms were covered in a strange weaponized gauntlet set. Each half looked like they had a strange engine set atop them, complete with long exhaust pipes to complete the look. I was already pretty confident in my fight abilities up to that point, but I wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with this monster on his own turf._

_Off to the side on one of the couches lounged his daughter. I think she was playing on her scroll or something at the time. Anyways, the guy who'd brought me here-_

"Hold up, you're not going to describe the daughter?" Yang questioned, interrupting Ragna's story and bring the _Grimm Reaper_ back to the present. Turning to the spunky blonde, he gave her a small glare. "I'm just saying you described her dad with a ton of detail, why not her?"

"Is it really that important?" he argued back. "Just let me tell the story and-"

"I'd say this is important," came a new voice that made Ragna groan. Of course _Kagura _would care about this. He'd been so focused on telling his story that he hadn't even noticed the _Black Gale_ enter the library. "What? Shouldn't you describe this story as best you can?"

"You just want to find out what she was like so you guess her measurements," Weiss accused, cutting deep like she usually did. Kagura gave a shrug, not exactly turning her point down. "Just give us an _apt_ description of her and move on. I feel like she doesn't say much here."

"No, she doesn't…" Ragna agreed darkly as he got back into telling his story.

_She looked like maybe she was a year or two older than me, either that or she'd gotten an early growth spurt. She probably had a couple of centimeters in height on me and her build was a little on the stocky side like her father. She was a wearing dark brown battle leather with some plating and had a tomahawk that rested closeby. Her hair was an impossible and almost painful crimson, like it was twice as red as Pyrrha's at least. Like I said earlier she was just lounging off to the side without a care in the world, playing on her scroll as she laid sprawled out on the couch and not even so much as glancing my way._

"...You're a lot smaller than the last guy that came for a job," the Mob boss said staring Ragna down. "A lot scrawnier too…" Even if his muscles weren't as ripped as they were now, he still had some volume to them and that was much easier to show off in the sleeveless vest he was wearing.

"...I'm still big enough to throw you across the room," Ragna challenged back with a bit of a challenging snarl. His guide took a cautious step away, waiting for his boss to retaliate.

_...I said I wasn't an idiot earlier, but that doesn't mean I wasn't cocky as all hell._

"You've got bigger balls on you at least," the boss said, not taking the threat to him at face value. It was clear he was cocky in his own home, enough to where he didn't even need to disarm Ragna before he'd come in. "Down to business then, the name's Seifer Minohearth. On the couch there you'll find my daughter Ravia Minohearth." Ravia only raised her hand in a small wave to her father, not even taking her eyes off of her scroll for a second. "Don't mind her, she's gotten bored with how many people I've had come in for this job."

'_People are dying on this job and they're bored? Figures coming from a mob boss… or from anyone in Vacuo really,'_ Ragna thought to himself. "So what's the hunt that's causing you all so much trouble then?"

"A _Deathstalker Grimm_ that's taken residency in one of the northern caves that's very important to my business," Seifer explained. "I won't go into what we were doing there as that's a trade secret, but the materials that have been kept there have been affecting it and causing odd mutations. This won't be your standard monster fight… for your sake I hope you realize that."

"I realize it plenty, what's the reward?" Ragna might've been overstepping himself with his cocky behavior, but being in Vacuo had done wonders for his confidence up to that point.

"To have you set for life, am I wrong?" the Boss said to Ragna. "Kill that thing and you'll be well taken care, you have my word."

"Your word, huh?" Ragna said, sounding just the slightest bit doubtful at the Boss's secret keeping. "So what's the stories with those heads on the outside, they get your word too?"

"They did… but they made the mistake of breaking their end of the promise," Seifer said with a snarl so harsh that Ragna swore he saw steam coming out of his nostrils. "Several of them came back and insisted that they'd killed the creature, but when I sent my men out to confirm their claims that thing was still alive. When I started sending my own warriors to confirm their word as they were doing the job, a few had the gall to try and rob them on the road. An insult like that deserves a response in kind… and making light of my trust means there's only one price to pay."

"And what about the guys that were honest with you, but couldn't take that thing down?" Ragna demanded irately, a harsh scowl on his own face. Ravia's rhythmic tapping on her scroll almost seemed to lose a beat for a brief second, but she only shrugged as she went back to her scroll. Seifer seemed… amused.

"...Most of them were smart enough to know not to show their faces around here again, the few that decided to come back though…" he chuckled as he glanced over at the man that had guided Ragna this far. "Some of them just decided to stick around. It's not failure that concerns me here, it's a lack honesty… Bear that in mind."

"If you say so," Ragna muttered. "You said north earlier, how far?"

"About eight miles, follow the road and you won't have to worry about getting lost. That damn thing will be waiting for you, it loves that cave too much leave. Just be sure that you don't get killed on the way there."

"Tch, we're in Vacuo. There isn't a damn road here that isn't crawling with danger. I can take it."

"I'd be careful about that attitude of yours." This was Ragna's first time hearing the daughter speak. She sounded like she was his age and had a bit of smugness to it as well. Ravia didn't so much as glance up from her scroll as she continued to play. "All of the last ten guys had attitudes like that and eight of them died fighting the monster while all of the others tried to play it off like they'd beaten the thing _Grimm_… Their heads are rotting at the front gates now."

"Well you're not giving that satisfaction from me," Ragna promised as he leff out of the Boss's room without being excused. The guy that had lead him through the Manor only gave a small sigh at his behavior before following shortly behind. They didn't speak at all until he brought Ragna to the Northern exit, just sending him off with what felt like a standard 'don't die out there' and that was it.

_My trek to the cave wasn't an eventful one. Sure there were plenty of Grimm that came out for me, but I managed to take 'em down without much struggle. The terrain that I was on was pretty bad even for a road, so that slowed a little. I could've rushed on ahead and avoid a long trek, but the way I saw it that would just mean that I'd have to get back to my master sooner after having to deal with that fortress a second time. This was one job I felt like spending my time on and taking it slow._

_At the entrance to the cave it was clear that this was a mining facility for whatever ore was lying inside of it. This must've been an old mining place because some of the equipment I saw laying around looked like it was ancient while others looked much more recent. Some of the larger machines even looked like they'd been clawed in half, stabbed completely through, or crushed beneath a massive bulk; all telltale signs of a __**Deathstalker**__._

_Inside the cave it looked like light was on my side as the ore found scattered around seemed to be glowing. My eyesight's actually pretty damn good when it comes to finding things in the dark, so even if this stuff wasn't as good as sunlight or a lamp it'd be all I need. I didn't get very far in before I started hearing a feral hissing from the creature, warning me to stay back and that I was getting in its territory… but something about that sound wasn't right. When I got close to that thing though, I knew what that damn Mob Boss had been saying when he'd said this thing had mutated._

_When I'd first hear it, I thought maybe they'd meant that the thing had a second head, a unique design, or something basic like that. This was a lot harder to explain. It was about three times the length and twice as tall as a normal __**Deathstalker**_ _which are already pretty damn big. Its claws were four pointed instead of normal pincers and it had two sets of them on each side of its body. It had five different stingers on its back, and these were looking much more flexible than usual, almost like they more tendrils. The carapace on its back looked twice as hard and was covered in smaller spikes. It wasn't that this thing had mutated… more like it had evolved._

_That thing might've been one of my hardest fights yet, but I managed to get-_

"Wait just a minute!" came Ruby's scream, interrupting Ragna's story with her outburst. Had anyone in the library not been paying attention as the _Grimm Reaper_ had been telling his story, hearing the youngest member of the Academy cry out like that certainly got their attention. "You're not even going to tell us how you fought that thing!? After all of that build up!?"

"Ruby, we're still in a library," Weiss tried to remind, feeling cautions at all of the glancing towards their table.

"But what about describing the action!? What about playing up your strength with collateral damage!? What about getting everyone engaged with an intense battle theme!?"

_**(Author's Note: Damn Ruby, way to break the fourth wall)**_

"…Are you saying I need to be my own hype man?" Ragna asked. "That's just another level of pathetic."

"Where someone says pathetic, I say _potential_!" Everyone cringed as they saw Amane who was practically standing right behind Ragna, no one having noticed his presence despite his flashy garb. "You've entranced a few of us in the story thus far, now imagine taking that a large leap further! Grab their every sense with imagination of your battle as you illustrate it, letting each of your actions unfold like a dance between man and beast, nay between the sworn elements of this world!"

"...So basically I hit this thing, checked if it had gone down yet, hit it again when it got up, and repeated until I had won," Ragna told them all, raising his fist to block a short jab from Azrael, creating one of the strangest 'bro fists' seen at the academy. Amane sighed that he hadn't taken his advice, but conceded that this was Ragna's decision. '_Besides, that was one monster I had to go all out on… talking about it here is only going to paint a picture on my back.'_

"If you're not going to talk about the fight, then at least finish the story," Jin instructed, having paid attention to his older sibling thus far. "What of your reward that you were left in the dark about?"

"Right… that," he sighed as he continued the story.

_After the monster was dead, the ore around the mine seemed to start glowing a bit brighter, like the __**Deathstalker**_ _had been eating off of their energy like some sort of massive parasite. I was exhausted, scratched across by the creature's claws, and nearly stabbed to death by its venom baring stingers, but I'd be fine. Hefting my scythe over my shoulders I started to head back to the Mob Boss's town._

_It was mid-evening by the time I made it back, and the same guy at the front was there to see me. He asked what I'd done and I told him that I'd taken the monster down as promised. He was hesitating for a long moment, almost like he didn't believe me. He must've seen plenty of Huntsmen claiming the same thing because he asked if I was sure, like he wanted me to be ready with what I was getting into if I was trying to pull a fast one. I didn't repeat myself, so it was back into the Manor. I was put in a waiting room for some time, somewhere in the middle grounds of the hierarchy where it was nice but didn't feel overly stuffy. _

_Soon enough the boss came into the room, asking me questions about what had happened and what I'd gone through. I didn't have much to hide so I told him what I could. He didn't speak much other than to ask for the occasional detail, but it seemed that he wasn't in much of a believing spirit. Eventually, he got up and told me that he would send out a few of his men to make sure I was telling the truth. In the meanwhile I was invited to join him for dinner… but it was clear I'd have to go if I wanted any chance of getting that damn reward. I had some time to kill, so I took used the place to take my first proper bath in almost a week and patched up my clothing with a sewing kit so I'd look decent enough._

_I was expecting dinner to be just me and the Boss, maybe his daughter if it came to that, but it looked like this was going to be a group event. In the banquet hall (which was only a single step down from the Boss's office on the design hierarchy) there was a long table which seated more than twenty people. At one end of the table sat the Boss with a massive stained glass window behind him depicting ancient Faunus battling Grimm beasts. I sat to his right while his daughter sat to his left, likely not having taken her eyes off of her game scroll in the time since I'd been gone. The rest of the seats were filled with members of the organization, most of them were wearing suits and were from the higher ranks, but there was an odd one in armor here or there making chatter. Everyone at the table was armed, myself included._

_I looked like everyone would be ready should I try to make a break for it if I'd been lying. I'd thought that Seifer Minohearth had torn all of those heads off with his own two hands, but all things considered these people just might be an audience as his boss proves again that he's not to be treated lightly… But something was bugging me about that. As he was now, the Boss might've been able to give that __**Deathcrawler**_ _a strong fight and could have possibly ended it himself, hell if he'd brought his top lieutenants along it might've been a surefire win. After all of his show of power, he definitely didn't strike me as the guy to leave anyone outside of his group to do his dirty work… so why the hell was I being brought in today? And all of those other Huntsmen? Something stank… and I was about to find out how foul it really was._

"You're not eating…" Seifer noted as he glanced to Ragna's plate. As if to make this any more of a Mobster cliche, they were serving spaghetti with heavy meat sauce on the top. It was paired with a well aged glass of red wine and there were breadsticks offered off to the side.

"I'm not hungry," Ragna told him hollowly, his gaze currently pointed anywhere else at the moment. '_At least they're making sure I'm well fed before they gut me, that's reassuring.'_

"Then try to find your appetite; I'd hate for our chef's to be offended." His tone made it clear that if Ragna's food remained untouched, it wasn't the chefs that would be offended. Choking back a sigh, Ragna began eating. The food wasn't drugged (not that there was much that could knock him out), but it was clear that Vacuo's cooks weren't on par with what he'd learned traveling with Jubei. "And the wine too, it's a good year and I don't want it wasted."

"...'Fraid I can't, I'm under the drinking age," Ragna protested.

"What drinking age?" Ravia said, taking her wine glass and drinking from it, not even lifting her eyes from her scroll. Rolling his eyes, Ragna tried the wine. With all of the times that Qrow had tried sneaking him whatever was in his flask when he wasn't looking, Ragna had already been thrown headfirst into the strong end of alcohol strength. This wine was pretty weak by comparison, but the burning Ragna felt on his throat still left wishing he could've asked for plain water.

"So do I need to eat the breadsticks next?" Ragna asked Seifer dryly. From across the table he heard Ravia giggling at his joke… that or her scroll… that or she was already intoxicated; Ragna didn't know.

"Just eat, I hope for your sake this isn't your last meal," he answered back, tapping the top of the table with his metal gauntlet a few times and calling over one of the chefs to top of the Reaper's wine glass.

"Like hell I'm letting this be my last meal, the only final meal I'll be happy with is Tempura and Udon." He got a few odd looks from around the table. "...I don't tell you all what to eat."

"Hmph, I can't remember the last time I met anyone as brazen as you. I'm almost hoping that my messenger comes back with good results, just to keep you around a little longer."

"Too bad I'm not planning on-" With perfect timing, the doors into the hall slammed open and halted Ragna words. As an odd twist of fate, the same person who'd met him at the gate appeared to be the same one that would bring news of his fate. The man had an almost fearful look in his eyes as he strood across the room to his leader who had casually begun rolling up a few noodles of spaghetti onto his fork. As the man began whispering in his ear, the movements of his fork ceased as this wasn't the news he'd been expecting. "So then…" Ragna started as he took a large bite out of one of the breadsticks. "What's the good word?"

"Good word…" Seifer repeated with a heavy groan as he facepalmed in his metal gauntlet. All around the room, Ragna heard sounds of the Mod members reaching for their weapons. As did Ravia… whilst still looking at her scroll of course. "I just can't believe it…" Everyone tensed their muscles, waiting for what would be the final word. "Finally… THE SEARCH IS OVER!"

"I'm sorry, search?" Ragna asked as he glanced around the room. He wasn't the only one who was confused, it looked most of everyone else in the room was glancing around in awe and surprise of the news they were hearing. Even Ravia seemed to be taken aback as she just looked at her scroll in a long and cold stare, not even giving any inputs. A few of the people around the room started to holster their weapons, meaning it didn't look like Ragna was going to have to fight his way out of here… so that was something.

"I THINK A TOAST IS IN ORDER!" Seifer shouted with a bellowing voice as he raised his wine glass. "TO THE NEW MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY!"

"New member!?" Ragna demanded.

"TO THE NEW MEMBER!" the rest of the members shouted with a hearty shout as they two dropped their wine glasses.

_I remember being confused as all hell at that moment, racking my brain to make sense of this whole thing. Was this just some sort of entrance exam to get into the group? No, then why would he have let in a few of the guys that had failed and come back? Was it just for a better position to work in? He'd promised to set me for life, so how high was it?_

"Congratulations," Ragna heard a feminine voice say. Trying to shift his attention back to the present, he saw the Boss's leader approaching him with a smile on face. This was the first time he was able to look at her where she wasn't using her scroll, the device left in sleep mode on her seat. Oddly enough though, she still had her-

_**CLANG!**_

"**WHAT THE HELL LADY!?"**

Had Ragna been any slower in grabbing his scythe, he would've been cut in two across his chest. As things stood he was barely managing to hold back Ravia's tomahawk, a harsh shaking between the two as both sides tried to force their way through the clash. The floor beneath them both was horridly cracked at the force, but all her father did was chuckle.

"Easy on the goods! You know how long we've both had to wait for this one! And it was exactly like you wanted to find him!"

"Yeah seriously!" Ragna shouted. "I… wait for me?"

"I know that dad," Ravia said as he brought her tomahawk back, finally ending the conflict. "I just wanted to be sure that he was the real thing that I wanted."

"That you… wanted?" the Reaper asked. His only response was a bright smile from the daughter as she grabbed his left arm and started wrapping hers around it. "Don't tell me…"

"I promised to have you set for life boy! And by proving yourself a taking my only daughter, you'll become my organization's heir within the week!" Seifer said with a hearty laugh. Ragna couldn't speak as Ravia smiled right in front of him, holding his arm into her cleavage. He felt his face start to heat up as she drew closer to him, practically rubbing her nose on his. "Hah! Shy one aren't we? And what happened to that cocky attitude from before!?" The hall was filled with laughter from everyone… except from the groom to be.

_So there I was… about to join a Mob family, to be heir to the boss's fortunes, and to marry his only daughter within a week. I'd be a top dog in Vacuo, leader of my own force. Have a wife. Be filthy rich. This is what people would call a Fairy Tale ending. Some people would give an arm to be in my shoes..._

_**CRASH!**_

_...not me._

"WHAT IN THE HELL!?"

Shards fell from the great stained glass from behind the leader, an art piece which many would consider a priceless wonder. That wasn't the only thing falling as Ravia fell to the ground on her rear, now no longer holding her new fiance's arm. On the great stained window, one of the boss's greatest treasures, was comical outline of Ragna's body after having dived through it at full force. In the streets below, the Boss, his shortly engaged daughter, and the rest of the dinner crowd could hear the Reaper's screams while he ran as fast his legs could carry him.

_All things considered, I think I handled that pretty well._

There was an awkward silence in the library as Ragna delivered the news on that last part. Everyone was reacting in their own way, with Jin's normally stoic face being filled with an odd sense of concern, Kagura's normally cocky demeanor filled with doubt, and even Azrael raised a surprised eyebrow at the news. Tsubaki and Weiss were coving the tips of her mouths in a more dignified shock, Blake and Amane seemed… oddly considerate, while Noel, Ruby, and Yang stood with their mouths gaping.

"You… YOU'RE ENGAGED!?" Yang screamed at the top of her lungs at Ragna's claim, causing the Reaper to flinch and wonder why Goodwitch hadn't come over yet for the disturbance he was causing.

"No… I was about to get roped in an engagement against my will, but I performed a strategic retreat, weren't you paying attention?" Ragna calmly defended himself, knowing that the shit was about to start hitting the fan.

"You mean, you just left that poor girl there?" Tsubaki demanded. "After it seemed like she was ready to spend the rest of her life with you... you just left without a word."

"How is it my fault? I didn't know what I was signing up for!" Ragna shouted.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure that _she_ knew how clueless you were," Blake said, oddly taking Tsubaki's side in the issue. "Why didn't you at least clear that up with her?"

"With her Mob Boss father right there? _Oh sorry, I didn't know that I'm supposed to marry your daughter here and I'm not interested. Please don't be insulted and rip my damn head off._ I told you what he was like at dinner when I wouldn't eat, you think talking things through would have saved my skin?"

"I know… but still…" Noel tried to say. Now she couldn't even bring herself to look at Ragna she stared at her feet with an ashamed blush.

"That's a terrible thing to do, I can't imagine what that poor girl is going through." Easy to tell if Ragna's _really_ screwed up? Even Celica thinks that he's done something wrong.

"Oh, so everyone thinks I'm the villain here, is that it!?" Ragna shouted as everyone around the library continued to send him judgemental looks. "Alright then, let's see if you're still thinking that after I finish telling this damn story."

_In the morning it had taken me close to few hours to get from my camp to the Fort Town, in the rush I was currently in I almost made it back in half the time. Even though it was already dark out, I had to keep glancing over my shoulders to make sure that I wasn't getting followed and I needed to watch how I traveled to cover my tracks. Since it was night the Grimm were more active too meaning I still had to fight my way though on my way back, all in all it was a total mess getting back to Qrow and my master._

"Tch, if you've been out all day on one job I hope you've got somethin' ta show for it," Jubei said to his apprentice as he heard him coming through the thicket. "Don't think that since you've been doin' a favor that you're gettin' out of… training." His last word was paused as he saw the state his apprentice was in; red faced, heavily breathing, and a face full of terror. "Dammit it Ragna, what the hell did you do?"

"You can yell at me all you want later! We have to get out of here NOW!" Ragna shouted as he took the campsite's water tankard he carried and threw it on the fire to douse the flames, much to Jubei annoyance. From where he lay near the fireplace, Qrow gave a drunken groan as he went for another swig of his flask as Ragna began to furiously pack their supplies. "Qrow you asshole, if you don't want to get caught up in the shitstorm that's about to follow me you need to get as far away from us as you can!"

"Yeah, yeah… Maybe I'll do that," Qrow said as he forced himself to sit upright, carrying a heavy scent of alcohol on him as he stretched. Ragna was annoyed at him for getting dragged into this mess sure, but right now he had more to worry about than just trying to get even. "Just lemme ask one thing…"

"Make it quick, I-!"

Ragna went silent as he turned to the Huntsman. Qrow a goofy smile on his face that wasn't like most of the expressions he wore when he was plastered, this was different somehow. Giving a drunken laugh, he made his way to his feet and put his arm around Ragna in comradery. The younger Reaper couldn't protest as he stared at the old drunk.

"Come on buddy… when's the wedding_?_"

_The asshole knew what he was getting me into. I don't know HOW he knew, maybe it was on a notice for the job that I never got, maybe he heard it from one of the survivors. All that mattered was that he knew what this job meant… and he sent me in anyways._

"Wedding? The hell is he-?" Jubei began to ask before he saw the his apprentice's stillness, a good indicator that was getting truly enraged. "Uh oh."

"_**YOU-!"**_ Ragna shouted as he turned around and blasted Qrow's arm off of him. In his drunken stupor, the old bird couldn't take a hit or maybe he could and was just continuing to mock him. Qrow then held his arms wide like he was expecting a hug. "_**YOU SON OF A BITCH!"**_

_Even after it thought I'd punched his lights out, Qrow decided to stick with the both of us. If there was something else he needed from me he knew not to ask me upfront, not with that shiner I'd given him. Just looking at his black eye gave me the smallest form of comfort for what he'd gotten me into… until we stopped in the next town and he used a made up sob story of it to get some personal time with one of the barmaids. Then he just pissed me right off again._

_Much like I'd expected, the Mob Boss didn't take that what I'd done sitting down. He must've a pretty decently sized bounty on my head because afterwards we were absolutely hounded by Bounty Hunters. Things began to get so out of hand that my master told me that we'd have to head off to another kingdom until things finally blew over. Honestly I was kinda sad to see Vacuo go after it made me start to feel like there was a place where that I meant something, but I knew that he was right and I we'd need to find somewhere we could actually train instead of being constantly on the run. Even after we'd left, there was usually an odd Bounty Hunter or two that came after me at least twice a week._

"And that's why it's a little hard for me to take what Qrow says as helpful at face value sometimes," Ragna told the group as he finished telling his story. "I went through a lot of hell thanks to that stunt of his, through any stunt of his really, and I usually won't get the chance to pay him back." Ragna gave a reluctant sigh. "It's not all bad though, there is something he's helping me out on now… something I've only been able to trust with him."

"Huh? So that your story with Uncle Qrow," Ruby decided. "Did the two of you ever fight? Like in an actual match?"

"We haven't, my master wouldn't let me. Always say I wasn't ready to face off against him," Ragna told her while he thought back. '_Truth of the matter, he might've been scared what would have happened if I used my semblance on him in the heat of things.'_

"And you're still a wanted man back in Vacuo?" Weiss asked. "If you'd like, I… might be able to ask my family for some of their connections, maybe to take your bounty down at least."

"You'd seriously do that for me?" Ragna asked, giving the Schnee heir a rare warm smile. "Thanks, but… that's actually the one part of the story that I eventually got a happy ending to. 'Bout a month before I left my master and started heading off for Beacon, I got word from Qrow that my bounty had finally been dropped."

"See? Our uncle's not all that bad, he might come off as a little… unorthodox at the best of times, but he's the type of guy that'll look out for you through thick and thin," Yang told him, talking up her uncle.

"Yeah, well you're actually giving him a little too much credit; Qrow told me he didn't get the bounty removed though he had tried a couple of times without any results. The only one that could've dropped that thing would have been either the Mob Boss or his daughter." Ragna shrugged. "Eh, guess that means they finally realized I was a lost cause and said to hell with it. Or that chick finally found someone else that could take the damn role. I'm not complaining at least."

"...Are you sure that's what happened?" Blake asked him, thinking over everything that Ragna had decided. "I mean it seems odd that they'd just dump all that effort they put in and you told us what Ravia was like. She made it clear that she'd only go for someone that she thought would be worthy, and you were the only one that actually beat that monster."

"So they came up with a different challenge and started that whole mess over again," Ragna counted as he opened his book to begin his exam preparations. "For all I know he could've put that _**Deathstalker**_ in the cave himself. With his connections it wouldn't be too unbelievable to put another one in and have it mutate thanks to the ore."

"You think he'd go for the same challenge twice? You know how big of an insult it was just to leave you alive; that's something his pride would never take," the Cat Faunus explained. "In fact come to think of it with those Bounty Posters…"

"I was supposed to be the next challenge?" Ragna said, following the train of thought. He then shook his head and let out a breath of relief. "But I mean… he dropped the bounty on me. No matter how you look at it, that means it should be over."

"Yeah, after at least a year of no results," Ruby agreed brightly to comfort her best friend… before even she started to turn sceptical. "Wait… but could that mean… since no one else was able to catch you… that even if they dropped the bounty…"

"...Please don't say it," Ragna begged. He already knew where she was going, but he couldn't stand if someone put it into words.

"...She still might be carrying a torch for you," Jin brought up casually, likely giving the dagger in Ragna a strong twist. Observing the results with his own two eyes, he watched as his older sibling grab his grabbed his book, brought it right up to his face, and let out a loud yet muffled scream of agony. "Volume, brother. We're in a library."

"Go to hell…" Ragna swore darkly as he dropped the book and slumped his head onto the table. His self pity didn't last long as he heard an authoritative cough from right next to him. Glancing, he saw that Professor Goodwitch had arrived at the table, using her telekeneisis carry a rather familiar mop.

"I've been getting complaints of screaming and outbursts coming for the library for the past hour. I should have known that you were the cause of it." Before Ragna or the girls could protest, she used her semblance and thrust the tool into his hands. "Start at the West Wing, I hope you didn't have dinner plans for this evening because that little project's going to take you a while."

"Effing Amazing," the _Grimm Reaper _said with a scowl as he rose. "Take some good notes for me in _Artifact Studies_, you guys owe that much."

"Sure thing…" Yang promised, feeling just the slightest bit guilty since she'd been the one that had brought this idea up to him.

After the Reaper left, their instructor only shook her head. "It's always something with that one… Whether it's putting students through walls, his crass attitude, or causing a general disturbance at the Academy. What is his problem?"

"You mean besides just realizing he might still be engaged to a Mob Boss's daughter?" Ruby answered.

"Just realizing…" Goodwitch began before scowling and looking at Team _RWBY_. "What?"

"N-Nothing! Heh heh!" the meek huntress-in-training told her, realizing that this could only cause more trouble for Ragna.

_**Author's Note:**_

_**That's the first of the short stories I'm going to be telling. Send me a PM if you've got a chapter idea for this little short series and drop a review to tell me if something linked to this should come up in the main plot. I can't promise to answer everything I get, but I can at least try to come back here once in a while. Ciao!**_


	2. Culinary Reaper

Chapter premise suggested by _ArmantusCumPinnae_

(Suggested Reading: Up to _Crimson XV Black Reunion_)

_**Extra 002: Culinary Reaper**_

"Well… sink or swim, I think this is about as ready as we're going to be. We've already gone over all the textbooks countless times, pulled all nighters every other day this week, and drank about every damn drop of coffee there was at the Academy." Ragna gave his study group a serious look as he closed his textbook. "Finals start tomorrow, and I don't want any of us to fail our physical and mock battle exams because we were studying too late."

"So tired…" Yang could barely say as she slumped her over her pile of books and let out an exhausted groan… despite her eyes being eerily wide open.

"You don't look it," Ragna told her before looking to the other members of Team _RWBY_. "Actually… all of you are looking pretty _wired_ right about now." The scene Ragna was looking at might've been one out of a horror movie. Weiss was shakily doing her hair _again_, even though by this point all her rapid brushing was doing was making her hair more frizzled. Blake was busy fidgeting with her fingers; shakily tapping them together, crossing them, just generally unable to stop them from moving. Ruby… well with her Ragna was surprised that her chair hadn't broken with all of her rapid jumping while sitting on it. "Dammit, I think we might've overdid it with the caffeine."

"WhatMakesYouSayThat!?" Ruby answered, her answer so fast and hyper that Ragna was worried that her _Speed Semblance_ was subconsciously draining her until she passed out.

"...Just a sneaking suspicion," he answered dryly with the classic anime style sweatdrop effect. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed out his scroll and started to open the device.

"If we're so wired from the coffee, then how are you fine?" Weiss demanded, stroking her hair so fast that Ragna was forced to reach out and steal the brush. "Hey!"

"Calm down, you're going to tear it out if you keep at it like that," the Reaper told her, not answering the first question (healing factor… it's his absurd healing factor guys). "Shit, looks like the cafeteria's already closed, even after the schedule for the finals kept it open later."

"You really think that food is going to help us?" Blake demanded continuing to rapidly play with her fingers. It was a good thing that she'd gotten ears as a feline faunus instead of claws, otherwise she'd have started bleeding long ago.

"If it can help to offset the caffeine it would have been worth a try," Ragna told her as he closed his scroll and looked them over. As they were now, it wasn't likely that they'd be able to get any rest and with finals tomorrow a sleepless night would ruin them. They might've been out options at the moment, unless Ragna…

"...Aw hell, and I was planning on saving this for after our exams," the Reaper muttered before looking at the girls. "You four get showered and meet me in the spare kitchen once you're done."

"Huh? You saying we stink!?" Yang demanded, her fiery aura indicating that she was especially eager for a fight due to her caffeine rush. This on its own would be terrifying to most (which was to say nothing now that it was paired with crazed eyes), but Ragna only shook his head at her behavior.

"No, a nice hot shower will help you relax and afterward you can change into something more comfortable," he explained as he pocketed his scroll. "Just make sure you don't fall asleep in there, that would suck."

"At this point I'd just take whatever sleep I can get," Weiss told him, getting extremely fidgety now that she couldn't put her caffeine high into brushing her hair. "Come on Ruby let's-"

Had Ragna's reflexes been any slower he wouldn't have been able to catch the countless papers that Ruby sent flying as she sped off towards her room with her speed semblance. His arms moving with speed and precision that had been hammered into him by his swordmaster, he managed to catch them in flight and slam them to the table where they'd been launched from. Shaking his head as he started packing the notes and books, he turned to the others.

"Make sure she doesn't go overboard and wreak the academy; it'd suck if all of these late nights we pulled were for nothing… also getting stuck with Goodwitch's mop for the upteenth time, that too."

_Later the Kitchen_

The fact that the refrigerators in the student kitchens were public access was the only thing that might've gone wrong with his plan; even if there was a sort of honor system in place and it wasn't too hard to label the food in there as your own, all too easily you might find your prep meals or leftovers stolen away by an eager raider of the kitchen. This had happened to Ragna in the two times that he'd tried something similar so he'd be damned if he'd have this happened a third time in a row, especially with something so expensive. This time he'd covered his belonging in spare aluminum wrap to hide the contents and had topped them with a sticky note that read 'Property of G. G.' and had copied the instructor's cursive as closely as he could. Three seemed to be the charm as his food was untouched in the fridge, likely because the note made it the one thing that nobody in their right mind wanted to mess with.

'_Score one,'_ the Reaper thought as he took the three pans out and set them on the counter. '_Now… how to prep this for such a late night. If it's too heavy on their stomachs, they're just gonna wake up sick and if it's too light I'm not going to be able to go all out on the flavors and it'd be a waste of expensive meat…'_ Finally coming to an idea, he snapped his fingers as he went to the public spice cabinet and selected the ingredients he'd need for a proper rub.

Since he'd already had to clean this place for Noel earlier that year, Ragna already had a decent understanding where everything was. He started up the gas grill which would take a while to heat up fully, but that would get him time to start on his other tasks. He was going to be working with both beef and fish here, so he wanted to make four different rubs and apply two to both so that he would compliment their differing tastes and textures. Taste testing them all, he decided that their flavor was good, started up the tea kettle, and moved onto the meat itself.

Part of the reason that this meat was so expensive was that it had been specially raised and bred to contain less fat than most animals and focused more on strong texture. There was still a bit more fat on it than Ragna wanted right now (he'd been planning to make something a bit heavier with this originally), so he made a few choice cuts with the kitchen knives and managed to peel away just a touch more of the excess fat. Sprinkling his pre-rub onto both types of meat and checked the heat on the grill. It was nearly up to full heat, so he put the meat on and moved on to the beverage for the evening.

If there was one thing Ragna could consider his 'Achilles Heel' of food preparation, it would have to be making tea. He'd tried his hand at it a couple of times already, but compared to his master's creations and… the set from an annoying old wolf, he'd been clearly out of his league. However, it didn't mean that he hadn't picked up a useful skill or two along the way. Using his skills in other areas, he managed to pick out a couple of herbs that would make a nice mixture for that night. Letting the tea steep, he went back to his meat, adjusted flipped them over, and applied their second rub coating.

"Wow, you're really cooking up a storm!" came Ruby's voice, thankfully sounding much less caffeinated thanks to the shower. She'd changed into her pajamas which consisted of white pants which considered of pink roses that went in a polka dot pattern, and a black tank top with a red heart in the center of it. Her silver eyes looked a lot less insane and her hair was slicked to the side and damp thanks to her shower. Even if the shower had cleared away her sweaty caffeine stink, she looked informal and messy… not to say that was hard on the Reaper's eyes.

"Well I'm cooking for five here and I've got a wicked appetite at the moment," Ragna told her as he sent a small smirk to his best friend. "Tea's probably ready by now, get yourself a cup while I'm finishing up here."

"Tea with a barbeque? ...Weird," Ruby commented, thought she still went to grab a mug from the cupboard.

"It's a decaffeinated blend; it'll help you relax and the flavor should help to compliment the meat," Ragna told her, hearing Ruby's sip turn to a sudden inhale as she recoiled at his drink's taste. "...Might be a bit bitter though."

"Could've warned me; you know that I've got to put a ton of sugar and cream in my coffee," Ruby said as she glanced back to the counter, eyeing the the sugar jar.

"Don't," Ragna said, stopping the young huntress's reach for it. "You put sugar in that thing and you'll get all rushed up again." He was trying to be stern in his words… not very effective against Ruby's kawaii eyes. "...Think I saw some cream in the center fridge; just don't go overboard."

"Yay!" she cheered going for the fridge. Ragna only rolled his eyes as his sipped his own tea, knowing that even after all she'd been through this first term Ruby was the same as ever… he kinda admired that about her though.

Not long later, the other three members of team RWBY decided to show themselves after enjoying their showers for a longer period of time than their leader. Weiss's nightly clothing consisted of a white night gown which wasn't that much different to look at from her standard day to day white dress. Blake wore black yukata with white edge and a short skirt to match it, almost similar in color to Ragna's own hakama set. Yang was flaunting a yellow midriff tank top with a red burning heat on the front and black short-shorts. What was a little out of the ordinary for the girls was their hairstyles after getting out of the shower. With their hair dampened, Yang and Blake had tied their normal loose hair up into long ponytails with Yang's being slightly longer and wilder. Also breaking the norm, Weiss had letting her hair go free for once and showed off its length and color as it fell across her shoulders.

'_...Damn,'_ Ragna could only think as he sipped his tea mug, trying to appear neutral to the four maidens' appearances. Yang still seemed to pick up on it and couldn't help herself from trying to tease him about it.

"See something you like Ragna?" she asked him with a sassy attitude. Weiss and Black both froze at the comment with a slight blush as Ruby once again inhaled her tea a little too quickly. All four of them looked to the Reaper for his reaction.

"Sure I do," he said, letting his words pause and take hold on the girls... before giving a sharp grin. "Nice that you finally don't look caffeine crazed." Ragna had to quickly lean back to dodge Yang's right hook, but the smirk on the blonde's face made it clear that she was just getting back at his comment.

"Honestly you two," Weiss said with a sigh as she looked to the grill before them, observing the spread that Ragna was in the middle of preparing for them. "So you weren't just bluffing when you talked about cooking."

"Nope, and I meant when I said I'd make something that would knock your socks off," Ragna told her as he gave a bit of a cocky slouch.

"That remains to be seen; my palate happens to have some _very_ high standards," Weiss told him, a steely gaze telling everyone that she wasn't impressed just yet.

'_Ever the Ice Queen_,' Blake decided… though she couldn't help but twitch her fingers as Ragna applied the herbal rub to the meat on the right side of the grill. She knew what kind of smell this was; "Salmon…" She said the word with a dreamy sigh as she looked at the cooking meat, smelling the divine aroma it gave off.

"Yeah, and this is the good stuff so don't down the whole thing before you even get a damn taste. It cost me an ar-" Something about the phrase Ragna had started made him pause uncomfortably. "Well it cost me a hell of a lot, so do me a favor and enjoy it will ya?"

"Promise!" Blake said with an oddly confident look in her eyes as she gripped her fist tightly.

"Someone's looking forward to a late night snack," Yang said as she began pouring the tea out for the newcomers. "So Ragna, what made you decide to treat us?"

"Like I said, I needed a way to get all of that caffeine out or you'd all bomb your finals tomorrow," the Reaper told them as he finished applying the last of the rub to the meat. Now all he had to do was wait for it to finish cooking through and they could get started.

"Yeah, but you had to have all of this meat already in the kitchen to have it ready so fast," Weiss said as she took one of the tea cups Yang offered her. "Were you planning to use this for something else?"

"No, I…" Ragna had a small blush as he scratched the back of his head. "Does it really matter why I had it in the first place? Stop being so nosy and be happy I'm feeding you at all!"

"Well you had fish ready, so that must've meant you were planning to cook this for us," Ruby said, finally putting the cream jug back in the fridge after emptying out nearly have of it into her tea.

"Kind of a claim there short stack," Ragna said as a bit of an insult to try to get the girls off of him. Ruby glared at him for a moment… but eventually giggled. "What are you on about now?"

"Just that you're not as good at hiding things from me as you thought," Ruby said, sending Ragna a wink that made his awkward blush deepen as she was developing the skills to see though him. "If you'd just had fish maybe I could guess that you were just doing something nice for Blake, but the fact that you've gotten beef too makes me think that you wanted to cook for the four of us from the start."

"...Don't be so proud of yourself," Ragna said, trying to keep his steely exterior up as the girls smirked around him, making the Reaper feel like he was being circled by sharks. "I was just gonna use this as a celebration party for when finals were finally done; circumstances just made me do it a little early."

"Aw see? You _are _still thinking of us!" Ruby said, joyfully patting Ragna on the back. The Reaper didn't protest as he readied a few metal skewers to make kabobs before offering one to Ruby. "You want me to do this?"

"You've cooked before, haven't you? Go ahead and take a stab at it," the Reaper encouraged.

"...Did Ragna just make a bad wordplay pun?" Weiss asked, whispering to Blake.

"I'm not even sure that he realized that he did it," Blake whispered back.

"I've never been more proud," Yang said, pretending to wipe away the emotional tears of a mother at graduation.

"I can hear all three of you," Ragna curtly reminded, helping Ruby as she proceeded to impale the meat cuts through.

A little bit of work later and there were two plates of skewers filled high with both beef cuts and salmon cuts. Ragna didn't say anything, only crossing his arms as he waited for one of the girls to take the first bite. If nothing else besides fighting, Ragna knew that he was a pretty damn good cook… leaving him hopeful that these four saw it the same way he did.

"We should probably let Weiss take the first taste testing," Yang suggested, leading the noble to shoot her a skeptic glare. "If anyone, I'd say it's you that Ragna's trying to impress with his cooking, so we oughta get your verdict first."

"That might be true, but he made barbeque; one type of dining that I don't have much experience with," she denied.

"All the more reason for you to try it then, you'll be able to give us an opinion of someone looking at it with fresh tastes," Blake chimed in. "...Just make sure you try the beef first, I want first dibs on the salmon."

"Of course you do," the Schnee heir said as took one of the beef skewers and brought in close. The smell of the spices was a bit powerful, but the meat didn't look like it was going to be a challenge to bite though; it looked like it had cooked nice and evenly. Shrugging, she went for a small bite off of one of the ends and began chewing slowly, letting the texture and flavor emerge as she tried to judge her friend's work.

"So… how was it?" Ruby asked, eager to hear if Ragna's cooking skills were as impressive as he was making them out to be. Even after she'd finished the first bite, her partner stared at the skewer in her hand in complete disbelief. "Good, bad… Ragna-quality?"

'_Do I even want to know where that falls on the spectrum?'_

"It's… It's really good," Weiss told them, still staring at the beef cuts she'd just bitten out of. "Surprisingly so; I can't even remember the last time I had anything this good."

"The food is so good even our residen_t Ice Queen_ is at a loss for words? I gotta try this," Yang said as she grabbed one of the skewers for herself and tore a big bite out of it and started testing the flavors out for herself. Giving a mild shrug, Ruby went for a bite herself where Blake was only too eager to finally tear into her own Salmon.

'_Looks like l've got an instant success,'_ Ragna thought to himself with a smile as he gauged everyone's surprised reactions as they realized just how good his barbeque actually was. Smirking he tried it himself (being the chef meant he had to eat last) and tried to gauge it to his other work. '_Pretty damn good, especially for my first time cookin' in a while. Glad the damn meat was worth all of the cash I dropped on it.'_

"Where did you even learn to make this?" Ruby asked between bites, so her words came out a little muffled. "I thought I was pretty awesome at cooking, but this something else."

"This was one of the first things I ever learned from my teacher; always used to tell me that _you gotta eat, cause fightin' on an empty stomach is suicide_." While Ragna gave a small chuckle after he finished his mimicry of the worldly wisdom that had been passed onto him, the girls couldn't exactly laugh with him since they had never met the person in question. "He gave me some basic pointers at first and then I just sort of learned to take it from there… By which I mean I fumbled around and burned everything I touched for the better part of a year."

"Heh, sounds about right," Blake told him with a smile as she thought about his studying attitude. Ragna sent her a _look_, but eventually dropped it as he realized that she had a point.

"I had to start somewhere; but even after I stopped burning my food that wasn't enough for him. I didn't know how it could've even been possible for a hermit like him, but he probably had to be one of the pickiest eaters I ever met. Everything I ever made for him had to be _perfect_… otherwise instead of his dinner it'd be my bath."

"...What kind of backwards thinking even is that?" Yang asked in disbelief, hoping to high heaven that Ragna was making that up (he wasn't).

"He's always been that tough on me; he wasn't the type of instructor to pull his punches… kinda like Goodwitch if you think about."

"At least with your own teacher you wouldn't have to worry about mopping," Ruby reminded Ragna with a girlish giggle. He wasn't laughing. "Too soon?"

"For now at least," the Reaper admitted as he looked at the skewers. "Come on, eat up. It's not like I have anywhere to put these."

"Only our stomachs," Yang agreed as she finished off her first skewer and began on her second. "We should start doing something like this more often; a late night food and chill or something… Maybe we could even get some of the other teams involved and make it a potluck."

"Sounds like a good time! _Pajama and Potluck!_" Ruby said, officially christening the new gathering of the groups.

"I agree, it sounds like a fun event," Weiss said as she offered up her plans of the event. This sort of surprised Ragna as he still somewhat saw her as the stick of the mud in the group, but decided that this was probably just her icy posturing changing for the better… how naive he was. "And of course, when Ragna shows up we'll be able to see what he considers as nightwear, just to keep things even."

'_Oh no.'_ "I mean… why bother?" Ragna said, not looking at any of the girls as he glanced away with a nervous complexion. "You saying I don't look good in what I normally wear?"

"Ragna, just stop. It's obvious what's going on," Yang told him as she walked up to the Reaper and put and arm around his shoulders to force him down and to look at her. "You don't even have a set of pajamas, do you?"

"Well I…" he nervously began, try to come up with something to say.

"I mean we hardly ever see you in anything else, you have other clothes… don't you?" Blake demanded, coming in close to give her own acquestory look.

"It's not that… It's…" Ragna for the life of him still couldn't figure out what was going to get him out of this.

"You don't even wear you Academy uniform during class lectures, now matter how many times you get called out on it… have you worn it once since you got after the acceptance ceremony?" Ruby chastised.

"...I'm starting to think it whatever I say isn't going to change the fact that I'm completely screwed here," Ragna decided as he finally managed to shove Yang off of him. "If I remember right, I'm feeding you here."

"Yeah, well we're not that cheap of a date," Ruby told him with a beaming smile. "I think we've got a shopping trip to plan out once finals are over with."

"Ugh. Just shut up and eat your skewers, will ya?" he told them with a groan as he went for another bite of his cooking, the four girls grinning victoriously at him as they had decided that Ragna wasn't out of the woods yet… not by a long shot.

_**Author's Note**_**: Just a short little slice of life to keep things light in this section for now. I may or may not do a shopping trip later, but if I do I'm likely to include a certain… fashionista. On to the reviews from last time.**

_MeteorElDrago_: No exactly sure about the lemon, but a raiders spin off sounds interesting.

_HotShot6_: At this point, it might be a strong possibility.

_ArmantusCumPinnae_: Thanks for this idea and the others you've suggested.

_RandomGuy2178_: And the Reader's opinions… those too.

_Wlyman2009 _& _Reclusive Dork_: I see that we have two passionate 'add' supporters.

_Pally111_: Unlike with Kagura, he probably doesn't leave 'em with cooties (per Makoto's claims anyways)

_Asterfernal_: Another 'add' supporter'

_Guest (1)_: Depending on what happens before this… not well.

_SharkSoul_ & _Paladin9800_: Funny, if I was going to write her in Volume 3 was my first thought.

_The Unplanner_: It would be hilarious if that colossal Grimm from the end of Volume 6 comes in… and Noel one-shots it with and single spoonful.

_MechaDragon99_: Almost a given at this point.

_Flame1hedgehog_: That's a lot to work with, but maybe I can pull off a few as Gag Reels.

_**That's all for now everyone! Ciao!**_


	3. One Size Fits None

(Suggested Reading: Up to _Crimson XVI Off Time_)

"That's everything you got? You travel light."

"Look who's talking; I doubt you could fill one suitcase with everything you've got, though I kind of doubt you'd bother taking anything with you. Meanwhile I-" Ragna gave a simple grunt as he tossed his travel sack onto his bed. The sound connection of metal upon metal caused Azrael to raise an eye open from where he was resting upon his own bed. "Have everything I need right here."

"You don't just have clothes in there?"

"Nope; I got a couple of cooking utensils, some hunting gear, a water purifier, a tent set, a few fire starters, and two full first aid kits," Ragna told him, listing off what he carried inside. "In fact, aside from the underclothing I've only got three other outfits in there and one of them is my academy uniform."

'_Which explains why he doesn't do laundry that often,'_ Azrael thought to himself before looking to the regular outfit that Ragna still had on. '_In fact,_ _aside from dressing up at __**Grimm's Day**_ _and that time that he had to spend repairing it after our struggle, I've never seen him wear anything else. Hell, he's never even wore his academy uniform… but I guess I'm guilty of that too.'_

"...You're not allowed to try my jacket on," Ragna told Azrael as he caught him staring at his coat, causing the _Mad Dog_ to violently cough as Ragna had gotten the wrong idea. "Sorry, you of all people wouldn't have asked for that. It's just that ever since Ruby tried making a show of wearing it during dinner that one time, a few people actually got the gall to try and ask to wear the thing. One guy even wanted to try wearing it on a date." Ragna gave a smug look. "I pounded his face in and got detention."

"Hah! Sounds about right," Azrael said with a gruff laugh as Ragna started taking the supplies out of his bag and laid them out. They all looked like they'd gotten plenty of use put into them, but had been recently cleaned or maintained in case he needed them at a moment's notice. One thing caught Azrael's eye, one thing that Ragna hadn't listed. "You own a Bow and Quiver?"

"Made the set myself, but I haven't needed them in ages," the Reaper explained as he took the bow in his right hand and raised it up. Anyone with a basic understanding of archery would know that this wasn't the right style or size for someone of Ragna's stature. "Back when I first started out, I had to get my own meat for cooking. Since I was broke, that meant going out and hunting with this thing."

"With your speed, you needed something like that to catch your prey?" Azael asked, remembering the nearly impossible speeds the two had been fighting a few days prior.

"Everyone's got a starting point and I was… young." His pause on that last word made the Mad Dog think that he'd been searching for a different adjective. "Plus it was good training, even if my teacher eventually said I couldn't use it any more since he needed me to focus on swordwork."

"Then why bother hanging onto it for all this time?"

"Sentimental reasons," Ragna put simply with a shrug.

"You?" the Mad Dog asked before giving a much more subdued chuckle.

"Shut up," Ragna said himself, keeping his back to Azrael as he took out the last of his camping gear, leaving only his clothing within his bag. "Kinda weird though; with all that talking we just had, you'd have thought that I was moving in for the first time."

"I noticed that too, but I guess when we first met there was that whole air of murder going around," Azrael noted. That was when there was a knock at the door. "Who could that-?" He didn't finish, instead taking interest as Ragna seemed to stiffen. "Hmm?"

"_I'm not here,"_ he mouthed before silently diving under his bed. Azrael was at a loss for words and the knocking at the door was just getting louder, so he made his way up and finally opened the door. Waiting for him on the other side was the smiling face of- "Blondie?"

"Hey there, Bluey!" Yang responded cheerfully with a bright smile. Azrael was less than enthralled at the new nickname. "You see Ragna around? I went by his room and checked it out, but I think he's already moved out. It's weird though, pretty sure that he told us that he had a few more days until he needed to come back here."

'_He's hiding from blondie? This doesn't bode well,'_ Azrael thought, unsure whether to assist his team lead or just watch as the chaos ensued. '_Wait, he mentioned earlier that Team RWBY wanted to take him…'_ Realizing the reasoning and figuring the fight Ragna had recently given him was worth something, he made his decision. "You just missed him."

"Ah?"

"He was here about an hour ago, but he had to shove off back into town. Had to grab some crap there or something," Azrael answered. "Besides, why the hell are you asking me? I ain't his babysitter."

Yang had a... _smile_ on her face. A nice, sweet, normal smile with a girlish undertone. Azrael wasn't the type to get scared in dangerous situations, but even he admitted something in the aura that surround Yang was making he feel a touch anxious. Giving a sigh, he looked to Ragna's bed in regret.

"I honestly tried," he said as a strange apology as Yang marched over.

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAD TO BLOW MY COVER!" he shouted as he rolled out from beneath his bed, looking up at Yang as she smiled down at him. "I should have you know that I hate shopping."

"_Too bad~"_

_**Extra 003: One Size Fits None**_

"I know I'm sort of to blame for this, but don't you think that you're taking this a little too far?" Ragna asked as he stood in Team _RWBY's_ Room. His Travel Sack slung over his shoulder as Ruby and Blake were cutting coupons out of advertisement books while Yang and Weiss perused the most recent shopping magazines. "I mean come on, this is clearly going overboard."

"Like heck it is," Blake said as she finished cutting out a coupon for jeans. "If we're spending cash on new clothing, then we have to make sure that we're looking our very best by the end of this."

"Sorry, we?" Ragna asked, a large sweatdrop forming at the side of his head.

"Duh, all four of us want to pick up clothes while we're out," Yang told him before smirking. "What, did you think today was all about you?"

"Kinda, but that's a load off my mind," Ragna said as he let out a deep breath and let his body relax.

"That being said, you're still the focus here," Weiss said, causing Ragna to go rigid once more. "You're not getting out of today that easily."

"Come on…" the Reaper said with a sigh before adjusting the sack he was still holding over his shoulder. "Any reason you're making me lug my bag around? I still got clothes to unpack."

"That's part of our first step!" Ruby said as she pointed at Ragna with conviation. "Before we take off shopping, we gotta see what few clothing options you already have and build off of those!"

"So you made me lug my whole bag in here while I still have undershirts and boxers left to unpack?" Ragna muttered. "Besides, you've already seen me in one of my other outfits, my school uniform isn't going to look different than anyone else's, and…" Ragna didn't say anything about the final one, though he did glance at Blake.

"What?" Ruby asked, innocent to Ragna's reasoning for not wanting to wear his fourth outfit. "Is something wrong with it?"

"You can say it has a mixed history to go along with it," he admitted as he opened the door. "Be back in a secon… HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL TRYING TO PULL!?"

"You're shouting again Ragna, mind the volume or you'll have Goodwitch at the door," Weiss reminded. "Oh, this skirt looks nice."

"Skirt?" Ruby demanded as her ears perked up. "Gimme!"

"Quit trying to change the subject!" the Reaper shouted with a scowl. "When you four brought this up in the first place you wanted me to grab night clothes, not an entire freaking wardrobe!"

"Well now it's a whole shopping trip so I think you're just going to have to go along with it," Blake said as she looked at Ragna with a knowing smile. "You know that you're not getting out of this, so you might as well get it over with. Who knows, maybe if you're got decent enough clothing you'll have less to shop for when we go out."

"Tch, you don't have to blackmail me like that," Ragna said with a groan as he finally exited the room.

_**Outfit #2: Red Vest and Baggy Pants**_

"Right, that's the outfit that you were wearing to the movies the other day," Ruby noted as she got a look at Ragna in his older clothing. "So is this what you used to wear?"

"For a while it was all I wore," Ragna told them honestly. "I've actually had to make a few different sizes of this thing and even on this current one I had to make a few alterations to make it bigger and easier to fit into."

"So you can actually create your own clothing?" Weiss asked, her face in an odd pout as she looked at Ragna.

"I mean, it's not like I'm great at it or anything, but yeah it's a skill that I ended up learning how on the road," he told them, now seeing all four of them seemed to be glaring at him. "What's got you all so upset?"

"You can make your own clothes and you're still only wearing that one jacket!" Yang shouted. "That's the real problem here!"

"So? I at least know how I look and like what I'm wearing," he told her with an eyeroll.

"Getting back to the topic of the clothes you have on now, I think it's a good look but I doubt you should be wearing it to class," Weiss noted as Ragna looked over himself with a bit of confusion at what was wrong. "Don't get me wrong, it's great at highlighting your arms, but at the same time that's sort of the problem."

"Problem my ass," Ragna swore gruffly. "Azrael gets to bear his chest in that unbuttoned jacket he wears every day and no one's ever given him crap."

"That's because everyone knows better than to deal with him, whereas you constantly have Goodwitch breathing down your neck," Blake reminded. The Reaper was silent as he took that into consideration. "Kind of a shame though; normally you're so covered up it's a miracle to see anything besides your face."

"...Oif," he muttered, trying his damndest to keep his eyes off his own right arm.

_**Outfit #3: Beacon Academy Uniform**_

"Damn, this thing feels stuffy. How on Remnant are most people able to wear this thing every day?" the Reaper demanded as he tugged on his collar, trying to give his outfit some air. "And why the hell are we supposed to wear ties? I'm a student dammit, not some nose in the air businessman."

"Because they want us to look professional maybe?" Ruby suggested as she looked over Ragna's uniform. "What are you even complaining about? Your tie's red and the suit's black so you've got your colors at least."

"Colors nothing, this suit just feels wrong on me… like I wasn't meant to wear it," Ragna muttered as he unbotten to top part of his black suit and loosened his red tie. Finally feeling like he could breath as he moved his arms around a bit, he noticed that Weiss had put her magazines down and was right in front of him looking over his uniform with disapproval. "I'm wearing it, don't know what more you'd expect."

"For one thing, I'd expect you to have the suit on the right way," Weiss said before she grabbed Ragna's tie. His effort to protest was short and ineffective as she tightened it and placed the point snuggly within the blue vest before adjusting the vest opening as well. Forcing the top suit button closed, she then realigned the top of the outfit, making sure that the top it was on just right so that the shoulders and collar length matched properly on either side. This was all done in the span of a few seconds.

"You see? A few subtle changes and you're already looking twice as good as you did before," she said with her classic _I told you so_ look. Not completely buying it (or at all comfortable) Ragna moved to adjust his tie so he'd have an easier time breathing, but slowly backed off as Weiss's scowl started getting a bit too intense for safety's sake.

"Look on the bright side, you'll at least you'll be a bit safer if _Goodwitch_ sees you, might even get out of mop duty," Ruby advised him, trying to look on the positive side. Ragna was heavy with due skepticism. "You've still go another outfit to show off, so why don't you get into it and then we can start our official planning!"

"...Can I opt out of trying that last one on?" Ragna asked, seeming oddly uncomfortable. "Truth of the matter is I already tried getting rid of it and…" He glanced at Blake again, this time she caught on to his look. "Like I said earlier, it has a mixed history."

"...I'm not buying it," Blake told him, ruining Ragna's earlier attempt to save some face. "Just get into the costume and we'll be heading out soon enough."

"Sides, won't you be happy to at least be out of that stuff suit?" Yang offered, though now she was on the receiving end of Weiss's glare. Seeing that she had something of a point, Ragna left the room to get into the fourth and final outfit.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," Ragna muttered sarcastically to himself as he walked through the hallway. 'I mean I know I should be happy I'm getting help at all, but why the hell are they giving it when I never asked for this in the first place?" He sighed. "Must just want me to look nice I guess… Still think they wear their own signature clothes almost as much as I do… Probably get my ass kicked if I tried to get out of this with that though."

"Mr... Bloodedge?" Give _Goodwitch_ some credit; she didn't have to raise her voice or change her tone at all to get Ragna to freeze in place. The Reaper didn't say anything in response, only letting a few sweat drops form as he turned to face the instructor who (as usual) didn't look pleased to see him.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Ragna bit back harshly, acting a little more defensive than he honestly needed to. The instructor's eyes were fixed in a steely glare as they seemed to be looking him over, a strange keen attention to detail.

"This has to be your idea of a poor joke," she finally sighed.

"Mind telling me what I did now?" he demanded, unsure of what the problem was. Most of the time she'd sentenced him to mopping he'd done something obviously wrong (though those jerks had _totally_ deserved getting their faces punched in), but here he felt like he was getting called out just for standing around.

"No matter how much you've been instructed nor no matter how many times you've been reminded, not once have you worn your official academy uniform. Only now during vacation, when you don't have a single class to wear it to, do you decide to put it on for the first time… and while it's perfectly adjusted I might add."

'_Thanks to Weiss no doubt_,' Ragna thought, knowing he wouldn't have gotten that last compliment if she hadn't made a few changes to it. "So what? I'm getting in trouble for _following_ the rules for once, is that your game?"

"No. I'm only addressing it because it feels like you're trying to spite me," _Goodwitch_ said as she adjusted her glasses, a tell-tell sign to Ragna that she was about to bring the hammer down. "Seeing as though there's no issue with your uniform and you can even be persuaded to wear it when it's no longer necessary, I imagine that we'll be seeing much more of it this coming school semester."

"While your at it, you might as well expect Kagura to stop hitting on every girl in the academy, that's seems just about as likely," Ragna rudely retaliated. _Goodwitch_ didn't say anything, only shaking her head for the upteenth time at his behavior as she proceeded to pass him by. "Is that it?"

"Is what it?" she asked without turning back

"No detention, no mop duty. That's all you wanted to say?" he demanded,

"I don't know what it is you want to get out of, but needless to say I won't be giving you mop duty under this context," she said in return, leaving Ragna to grunt as he'd been easily found out. "Enjoy the rest of your vacation."

'_The one time I actually WANT mop duty, she ain't buying it…'_ a frustrated Reaper thought to himself. '_Might as well finish this.'_

_**Outfit #4: Grimm's Day Costume**_

'_It's a relief I'm good enough at sewing to repair this thing; pretty sure leaving in those bullet holes would've lead to some bad questioning,'_ Ragna thought as he stood with a slouch, wearing what remained of his _**Grimm's Day**_ outfit. He was a bit relieved that the black biker leather didn't have much of a shine to it, otherwise the outfit would just look plain gaudy. As things stood now, the outfit seemed kind of plain on the _Reaper_, though it fit him snugly enough to highlight parts of his toned muscles.

Blake, his biggest concern with current attire, hadn't frozen completely and only looked over the outfit in contemplation, seeming to analyze its few features. There was nothing indicating that she'd have a breakdown like she did back when she saw him during _**Grimm's Day**_, but then again Ragna had looked quite a bit differently back then with his mask and his hair dyed by punch.

"So mind telling us what happened the artificial fur that made this such a great _**Grimm's Day**_ costume?" Yang asked with a bit of a pout. Apparently the idea for the fur had been her favorite part of the outfit.

"Tore it off after I got doused with punch and it started smelling like a dumpster fire. Wish I'd done it earlier; damn thing was starting to give me a rash." Weiss nodded in understanding as she'd remembered how coarse it had felt when she… the _Ice Queen_ gave a soft blush as she remembered back to her dance with Ragna that night.

"What about that awesome mask that I picked out?" Ruby asked hopefully. Blake shot her Team lead a look… even though there was no way Ruby could've possibly known what she'd done.

"That… got lost," Ragna said as he scratched the back of his head. In truth the Reaper had destroyed it after seeing (and being shot by) Blake's reaction, making sure something like that never had to come up again. "...Sorry."

"Not a huge deal, but any reason that you decided to hang onto that for so long?" Ruby asked again.

"I tried to return this thing to get your rental deposit back. Sad to say even after fixing it the best I could, without the fur and mask they weren't taking it back even at a discount." Ragna sighed. "Since then I've basically forgotten about it. Honestly, I'm figuring I might get rid of this one."

"...Or you could hand it off to me for a bit." Ragna shot Blake one of the oddest looks he'd given that day, leading for the cat Fanus to blush. "I mean… I can make a few adjustments to it, add a few parts, and… maybe I could turn it into something worth wearing?"

"You sure you want to do that?" Ragna asked before realizing that this might just be a method for her to cope with whatever bad memories the suit had brought up. "Sure I guess; go ahead and go crazy." Blake and he shared a soft smile before addressing the group as a whole. "That's everything I've got on me, now what?"

"Now we actually head into town and do the shopping," Weiss said to him, apparently taking charge. "After taking a look at what's available in the magazines, what's on sale, and what the five of us need to grab, I've managed to narrow all of our shopping down to a single store."

"You're serious? And here I thought this would be an all day thing," Ragna said giving an actual smile. "Nice one _Snow White!_"

"Much as I appreciate your enthusiasm," Weiss began, not making eye contact as she knew this was going to be a letdown for the Reaper. "The store that we're going to is something of titan among them… meaning each of its many departments can count as its own separate store."

"...So it's still an all day thing after all, should've known," Ragna thought aloud with a groan. "Meet you guys at the front, just gotta change back into my regular stuff."

"Isn't the point to this that we're getting you out of your usual clothing?" Yang tried to remind him.

"Sure, soon as you let me style your hair," the Reaper bit back, tilting his head to the side as he dodged whatever had been in range for Yang to throw. "I think you just proved my point."

_**Later**_

'_This store is a lot bigger than the last one I was shopping at,'_ Ragna thought as he remembered when he'd bought that shirt to thank Ren. The first thing to great the group at the entrance was a complete map of the store, showing off the many departments throughout all four of the store's floors. Hell, there were even a couple of high end restaurants and cafes spread throughout the loose definition of a _store_. Even the girls seemed overwhelmed as they looked over the options for shopping.

"I knew this place was going to be big, but this is absurd," Yang finally admitted before she turned to Weiss. "Are you sure you're rich-a-f family doesn't own this place?"

"Of course I'm sure, we deal in _Dust,_ not clothing and cosmetics," she responded just the slightest bit arrogantly. "Though… I wouldn't be surprised if my father wasn't one of the company's main shareholders."

"Makes sense," Blake said, thinking about how much power and influence someone like the head of the SDC would have. "To be completely honest, I don't think clothes shopping is going to be an all day trip here… that's not nearly enough time to go through it all."

"No kidding, you'd probably need a week at least," Ragna had to admit. "Guess we should just pick a section and start looking through all the-"

"NOTHING!"

"...Not the word I was going for," Ragna said at the sudden interruption as he and Team _RWBY_ turned to looked to whoever had made the sudden outburst.

"A store this size and NO ONE has any fresh products for the new season? A disappointment to shoppers and shop alike!" The speaker gave a huff as she adjusted her dark tinted glasses while her Fanus traveling companion gave nervous glances around at everyone who'd heard the outburst. "Now how am I supposed to enjoy my vacation?"

"Is that… Coco Adel?" Blake whispered to her team. "And Velvet?"

"Who?" Ragna asked, perplexed at how Blake knew them.

"Ragna…. They're students at the academy like we are; they're on Team _CFVY_ just a year above us," Ruby told him, a look of slight disappointment directed at the Reaper. "You… seriously don't recognize Coco?"

"Nope." Ragna's denial was a little too casual for everyone's liking.

"And the reason you need to become more social continues to grow," Yang sighed with a face palm. "Do you at least recognize the girl she's with?"

"Think so, unless my memory blows that badly."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Weiss insulted. Ragna only shrugged. "Looks like they're coming over this way now, so don't scare them off or mouth off to them."

'_That's asking a bit too much.'_

The only reason the nervous Velvet was able to approach was due to her team leader shoving her from behind and not giving her a say in the matter. Ragna scratched the back of his head as he awkwardly tried not to make eye contact.

"Well, aren't you going to say it?" Coco demanded, pointing at Ragna as the Faunus continued to tremble. "Come on, he's right here. You've talked about this enough, time to actually put words into action."

'_Not much action here; she's almost as bad as Noel was,'_ he thought, remembering his Teammate's naturally timid nature.

"I-" Velvet said with a high pitched squeak. She pressed the tips of her fingers together as she couldn't make eye contact with the Reaper, too embarrassed to even look his way. "Th-thank you…"

"This about that run in with Cardin?" he demanded. She flinched at the question, but eventually nodded. "Don't worry about it, he was being an asshole and I thought he'd look better in the ceiling."

"O-oh…"

"That's the guy you kept saving you wanted to thank?" Coco cut in casually, causing Velvet to nearly leap out of her skin as a harsh blush grew on her face. "All those times you kept telling me that you HAD to think of some way to thank him and you had no idea how to approach him-"

"C-c-c-COCO! That's not important!" she said trying to wave her leader off. The Reaper just shook his head as today was becoming more absurd by the minute.

"You two done?" Ragna demanded as he pointed his thumb to Team _RWBY_ who had been forced to be sidelined as the chaos unfolded. "We got our own crap to do here."

"Really…?" Coco seemed to muse as she took her glasses off, actually looking eye to eye with the Reaper. "Finally decided it was about time to find something else to wear?"

"Not by my own choice," he admitted, glancing over to the girls of Team _RWBY_. "Those four have a nasty way of twisting my arm."

"I'll bet," she said as she looked at his jacket. "Don't get me wrong, it's a nice piece to wear and red can certainly do you justice. It's just that wearing it so often makes it less of an iconic look and more of a massage that it's the only thing you have to wear."

"You mean the only thing I've got that's worth wearing?" Ragna refuted,

"Sh-shouldn't we be going?" Velvet asked her team leader nervously, hoping to ease any developing tension. "You did say there's nothing for us here…"

"I did, but there's been a change in plans," Coco said before returning her glasses to their rightful spot and turning to Team _RWBY_. "Would you girl's like an expert's opinion by chance?"

"You'd seriously help us out?" Ruby asked, knowing Coco's fashionista reputation.

"Of course, maybe what these clothes need are the right canvases," she said with a plotting smile.

"That… has an ominous sound to it," the Reaper couldn't help, but notice.

"I know, but just go along with it," Yang whispered to him. "If this manages to go well, we might be able to get all of our shopping in just a couple of hours."

'_Guess I got no choice,'_ Ragna thought to himself with a sigh. '_Seems like clothes shopping is as much of a pain as I expected.'_

_Meanwhile_

"Come on, don't they have this in his size!?"

"No, they're already out of polo shirts!? He needs something nicer to wear!"

"Find him a button up shirt and a tie! That'll work!"

'_Is… is this how Jaune's family does their shopping?'_ an aghast Pyrrha thought as she watched was essentially a warzone. Jaune's sisters were running from one section to the next, trying to find something for their precious baby brother to wear. Their dash around the shop was a mad flurry as they inspected each and every article of clothing that was on display before rushing to drop it off at the changing rooms. The redhead was worried that the store manager would have kicked them out by now, but the employees simply stood at a distance and smiled, clearly not the first time they'd had to deal with an Arc family shopping trip. '_My… my parent's might've been intense those few times we had to hit the Black Friday sales, but this is as harsh as any fight I've been involved in.'_

Currently the young celebrity was shopping in the women's section of the store, the only place where Arc family seemed to be ignoring completely (with their sheer dedication to helping Jaune). It was true that she didn't exactly have anything she was hoping to buy for herself, but she didn't want to feel completely left out of shopping. Heading for the 'drop off' point, she watched as three of Jaune's sisters hurried out of the changing room area, hoping to snag supplies for the next outfit. Inside she saw stacks upon stacks of clothing that had yet to be tried on, leading to the single occupied room in the back. Letting out a soft sigh, she knocked on the door.

"I keep telling you, I barely have any room to change in here!" came Jaune's voice on the other side, clearly fearful that his sister's had brought something back for him to try on.

"It's me," Pyrha said gently, hoping to calm her leader down at least a little. "Are you doing okay in there?"

"...I'm still alive and sane, so I guess that's better than what I was expecting," he groaned from inside. "Sorry you had to come with us."

"No, no, I decided I'd come along," she assured him. "You mind coming out here so that I can see what you have on?"

"...Don't laugh."

In hindsight, she was glad that Jaune had warned her because it was clear that nothing that he was wearing was meant to be worn together. His top consisted of a long-sleeve plaid shirt with a soft yellow t-shirt underneath. His pants were tanned khaki shorts with rusty red leather belt. On his feet he wore combat boots.

"Jaune… I think each of those might've been given to you by a different sister," Pyrrha patiently tried to advise.

"And you think that I can keep track of all of these?" he returned with a solid facepalm. Glancing behind him, Pyrrha save several more stacks of clothing along with a modest pile of clothing on the ground that Jaune had already tried on. Compared to everything that was still waiting for him, it wasn't even a small dent. "I'm just glad we missed the back to school sales; there's no telling what my sisters would've done with actual discounts."

'_This is them holding back,'_ the young Huntress-In-Training realized as she glanced outside, watching as the chaos continues to unfold with four of Jaune's sisters came back with seperate outfits each picked out for their brother to try on. "Do you want to do some training when we get back? Anything to get your mind off of this?"

"Please…"

_Back to Ragna_

'_Maybe I should go Grimm hunting tonight; anything to get my mind off of shopping,'_ Ragna decided as he and the girls reconnected.

Coco had set everyone off on their own to do some shopping and grabbed what they thought would look nice on them. No one had tried any clothes on yet because she had insisted to look at everything that they'd brought back. Ragna couldn't help but notice that the first thing she did was toss aside nearly all the clothes he'd considered buying for himself while keeping most of the clothing that Ruby and the others had grabbed for him… including a few of the clothes that Velvet and Coco had picked out for him.

"That should be everything," Coco finally said as she looked over what outfits remained. Grabbing two sets of clothes, she handed the first set to Ruby and the second to Ragna. "Now go get changed, I want to see how the both of you look afterwards."

"Never knew I was getting into modeling," Ragna said humorlessly.

"Hey, if the huntsman thing doesn't work out, it might make for a good backup plan. Just hope you're won't become a male underwear model." Ragna was starting to get annoyed that his scathing scowls on Yang never seemed to have any effect. "And while they're changing into those, we'll get started with-"

"No no, those two are the only ones that are going to be changing right now," Coco insisted. "Think of these outfits as… sets. And Ragna's going to need to match along with what your wearing. Think of him as the accessory that puts everything together."

"Who you calling an accessory? I'm not a damn keychain."

"Then how come you and I are always latched onto each other?" Ruby questioned. The Reaper didn't saw a word, quickly turning and hurrying to his changing rooms before his complexion turned crimson. Ruby turned to her group innocently, not noticing their clearly aghast looks. "Did I say something?"

_**Ruby Outfit: Hoody**_

"Huh, nice and basic, but I really like it," Ruby said as she looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt with a zipper. The hood came with a drawstring on either side that could be used to tighten it if need be. Towards her waist were small pockets on both sides of the zipper that she could put small items into or simply use to keep her hands warm. For pants she now wore dark tinted jeans completed with a red leather belt. "Almost makes us look like we're matching pairs."

"You mean more than usual?" Ragna questioned back with a smirk. For a first outfit, he had to admit this one was at least a little more to his liking than he'd expected. There were a few things different with his hoodie, namely that there wasn't a zipper or adjusting drawstring, and there was only a single long pocket instead of two split ones. His shirt was black, but it on top of the base color was a red pattern that seemed to shape into a wall of thorns. He'd been a little unsure of how the red jeans would have looked on him at first, but was surprised to see that they actually seemed to compliment the look. "Gotta say, for the first turnout I'm not exactly hating it."

"That's low praise," Coco scoffed as she looked at her two _canvases_. "At the moment, this is me just playing it safe; I'm just starting here to see what results I'm going to get with what I've got planned for him." Ragna wasn't exactly a fan of how she'd put that. "This is just a common _man of the people_; not trying to get people's jaws to drop or be the center of attention, you're just trying to live life."

'_If he puts someone in a ceiling, I don't think the clothes he does it in is going to matter,'_ Velvet thought to herself, remembering the kind of person Ragna often showed himself to be.

"Both outfits have my vote of approval either way!" Ruby said happily as she turned to get another look at Ragna's shirt. "Gotta say though, what Ragna's wearing is just a bit sinister… but it also kinda looks like rose thorns if you look at it right."

"You caught onto that did you? Intentional." Ragna and Ruby both shot Coco surprise and slightly embarrassed looks, but the fashionista was already moving to her next set. "Next let's go with the white theme for Weiss… I think we should start here."

"But… but those clothes aren't the least bit formal!" Weiss complained with a scowl. "How am I supposed to wear something like this? I have a reputation to uphold to my family!"

"So? Isn't a girls wardrobe one of the few ways she can express her own freedom?" Coco countered as she thrust the clothing into Weiss hands before doing the same with Ragna's apparel. "Come on, chop chop! More to try on, let's keep it moving!"

"...She always like this?" Ragna whispered to Velvet.

"She's a little more excited than usual… but basically," the bunny fanus admitted with a classic sweatdrop.

_**Weiss Outfit: Casual**_

'_I'm probably showing off my arms more today than all of my first semester put together,'_ Ragna thought uncomfortably to himself as he was on the receiving end of all of the girls glances, nowhere to hide his… secret. '_Cage matches with Yang excluded I guess, but it still kinda bugs me.'_

Now Ragna was wearing a dull dark grey shirt with half length sleeves, just short of his elbows. There were a few buttons at the top of the shirt, but it didn't come with a collar. The shirt's cotton clung tightly to him in its snug fit, showing off Ragna's rigid muscles even more than the biking leather he'd been wearing earlier. He was also wearing some slightly baggy grey cargo shorts and a pair of black tennis shoes.

Wiess meanwhile was wearing a button up blouse of a much lighter grey with a small black bandana tied around her neck. Her white skirt (which she'd insisted that she needed to wear one) didn't stretch out along the side and rather traveled downwards along her legs yet it still had enough room if she needed to stretch her legs or run. Her brown shoes still had a heel forming, but it was much easier to run in those than stilettos.

"Looks like you two are ready to head out for a day at the park," Ruby commented. This wasn't so much to poke fun at them, but rather just to voice her opinions on the clothing.

"So, can the _Ice Queen_ bare this or is she about to MELT with embarrassment?" Yang questioned with over exaggerated drama and puns.

"Oh hush you, I can adapt," Weiss hissed back as she crossed her arms, somewhat uncomfortable in her setting. '_Though… I guess having Ragna dress the same way is helping a little. Even though he's seems as uncomfortable as I do.'_

"Come on, can't I get out of this?" Ragna demanded, before noticing everyone else's disappointed looks getting sent his direction. "I mean I'll buy the damn thing, you just mind if we keep this moving?"

"Oh, so now you're excited to try on the next outfit?" Coco asked as she went back over to the pile of clothing options. "Let's go for a more… formal look, something that will actually get heads to turn."

'_And I'm the one that has to wear these?'_ Blake thought, as she realized the current order meant that it was her turn. '_Well, there's a first for everything I suppose.'_

_**Blake Outfit: Semi-formal**_

'_At least this isn't a suffocating as my academy uniform, but I get the feeling that if I let Weiss get close she'll make it that way._'

Ragna's formal suit had him wearing all black. A black dress shirt, a black tie, black slacks, and black dress shoes. The only part that wasn't black was the small white insignia of two swords crossing over a shield on his shirt's left bicep; likely the insignia of whatever company had produced this clothing. Like him Blake was also wearing all black, but in a very different style. She had a black evening gown which was tied with a black sash at her waist. The bow style that the sash was tied in reminded everyone of the bow she used to wear before her Faunus reveal. Her black stilettos complimented the look… as did the small cut on the left side of the skirt that showed off her legs.

"...You look nice," Ragna tried to compliment as he saw how nervous Blake was, wearing this new type of clothing.

"Thanks… you too," she tried to compliment back, leaving the Reaper to scratch the back of his head.

'_Adjust the outfit a little, stylize that hair of his, and have him get rid of the slouch he stands with and he'd be PERFECT,'_ Weiss thought to herself as she visualized her ideal form of Ragna.

"_Why couldn't I have been in the casual clothing?'_ Blake thought to herself as she quickly picked on that Weiss liked what she was seeing.

"You know, I'm kind of jealous of you," Velvet said softly as she tried to encourage Blake. "I don't think I'd ever be able to pull that look off myself… I probably don't have the confidence for it."

"Thanks, but I'm not exactly confident in this myself," Blake noted as she tried to cover her leg up from Ragna's unintentional glancing. "In fact if I wasn't being forced to wear this, I doubt I'd ever try it on."

"Which is where I come in," Coco sounded from behind Velvet, causing the Rabbit faunus to nearly jump out of her own skin once again. "Now you don't have a choice."

One quick change later, Velvet was wearing the same outfit as blake, only hers was a familiar shade of brown and the sash wasn't tied off with a bow (she had a bow tied around one of her ears instead). Everyone watched guiltily as she curled up into a ball, red as a tomato in embarrassment and trying not to show off her own leg.

"Oif," Ragna groaned before turning to Yang. "Looks like you and I have the last outfits. Wonder what chaos this one's going to cause."

"Assume the worst and it's sure to happen," she tried to remind.

"At least I know what I'm getting into."

_**Yang Outfit: ?**_

"_Yare Yare Daze,"_ the Reaper growled as he tilted the front of his black hat down, the back of which had this strange style where you couldn't tell where its fabric ended and Ragna's hair began. For now he was dressed in and black trenchcoat that went much lower than his standard jacket and carried a gold chain on the collar. He also wore slim fitting pants, a pink shirt, and buckle belt.

"Uh… how do you feel?" Ruby asked, unsure of what Ragna's opinion was of the new outfit.

"I feel like going to Egypt, punching like hell from beneath a road roller, beating the shit out of a vampire to save my dying mother, and then pursuing my Doctorate in Marine Biology so I can study Dolphins."

_**(Author's Note: IS THAT A JOJO'S REFERENCE!? There, now no one else has to feel obligated to make this comment.)**_

"What?"

"What?"

The way the two stared blankly at one another, it was clear that Ragna's response clearly came out of nowhere.

"I... don't remember picking that outfit out for him," Coco admitted, even she was fazed by this turn of events. "Let's try this again."

_**Yang Outfit (For Real): Punk**_

"...Not too different from what I'm used to wearing at least." Now Ragna was in a much more fitting brown, sleeveless, leather vest. Beneath that he wore a white v-neck shirt that went down just low enough to expose his black tattoo on his chest. His jeans were now a faded blue color and had intentional tearing on them to make him look all the tougher. His shirt was also sleeveless, again showing off both of his toned arms in full. "Now I feel like I'm about to pick a fight with someone."

"All in all, nothing's changed," his blonde friend commented. Her brown leather jacket came with sleeves and remained closed over her body (think of it as a prototype for her Season 4 outfit). Her pants were also the same faded shade as Ragna's with the intentional tearing, and the tough as nails look. The finishing touch for her on the other hand was a pair of shades that she'd picked up, making it all the easier for her cocky smile to stand out.

"No, usually it's trouble that finds me. Now it just looks like I'm asking to cause some chaos," Ragna told her off. "And that's without you being around."

"Aw, you know that you'd never want anything to change," she tried to flirt with him. Ragna didn't say anything, but eventually shot back the smallest of smirks. Yang took that as win enough and gave his shoulder a mild punch. "So, we're done with round one then?"

"Round... one?" Ragna had to ask. The looks he was getting was scaring him for a different reason. Team _RWBY_'s smiling faces were there to let him know that the fun was only beginning and there was still much more to be done, Coco's triumphant look let him know that she'd hit her stride and was now prepared to try the _REAL_ tests, and Velvet… well she was the most understanding, only giving him a small nervous wave of apology. "Oh… hell…"

_**That Night**_

"Annnnnnnnnddd… I'm close to broke…" Ragna groaned to himself for the umpteenth time as he walked down the halls of _Beacon Academy._ Ragna's arms were filled with bags containing the outfits he'd had to buy (and these were the ones he'd taken to make sure the girls didn't come after him a second time). "Now I've got no choice, but to take those club fights that Yang kept wanting to invite me to… Did they plan this crap?"

Knowing how the girls seemed to have him wrapped around their collective finger, it didn't surprise him much. In the past he was hesitant to take crap from anyone, but with them… it felt odd. Almost like the crap was giving was somehow trying to help him adjust and it felt wrong to fault him for that. All the same, he got some new clothes out of it so that was something. Jubei would have never let him spend money on his outfit, forcing him to save it for food or supplies that he'd actually need. This was something that felt sort of rebellious against his teacher… and Ragna didn't know how to feel about it.

Opening the door to his room, he saw Azrael lying on his bed like he'd left him when Yang had stopped by to kidnap him. The light was off and the _Mad Dog's _eyes were shut, so the Reaper reasonably assumed that he'd been asleep. That made things a little easier, because Ragna couldn't help but feel a little miffed that he hadn't tried harder to get him out of today's chaos. Shaking his head, he set the clothes on his bed and got ready to start unpacking.

"Have fun playing dress up?"

Whipping his head around to scowl, he found the _Mad Dog _looking at him with a single opened eye and a toothy smile filled with snark. Somehow, he was managing to give Kagura and Qrow's usual shiteating grins a run for their money. Ragna wanted to pound his face in right now, but he knew what that could easily escalate to. Taking his sword from where it had been resting for the day, he slung it onto his belt and took the easy way out.

"I'm going _Grimm _Hunting." Azrael's smirk faded. Ragna was using some sort of special privilege to get out and fight _Grimm _in the dead of night. This sort of thing would have been perfect for Azrael to get rid of his constantly developing tension, even if just a little. "Keep your comments to yourself, don't break the forest this time, and we can grab ramen on the way."

"Deal." With that Azrael leaped from his bed to follow his leader down the hallways, getting ready for a night of fighting. "...Just got one thing I'm curious about."

"What is it?" Ragna growled, figuring this was just another way to get under his skin.

"Does it really take that long to go shopping for night clothes?" Azrael honestly didn't know what had kept him for so long, but seeing Ragna stiffen yet again made it clear that something was wrong. "Don't tell me…"

"The one thing we didn't grab," he sighed as he slumped his head forward. Azrael wisely decided he'd better keep quiet on the rest of his walk; apparently he wasn't the only one with tension to work off.

_**Author's Note:**_

_**Like I said on YouTube, fun but it doesn't tie into the larger story as a whole. Sorry this is a little late, but I've had a lot on my plate lately as I've been adjusting. Losing a job isn't fun, but I have something in the works that might turn out pretty damn good. But enough about me, let's hear what you had to say.**_

_ArmantusCumPinnae_: Oh I'll be sure to bounce ideas via PM. That goes out to the rest of you as well.

_Wlyman2009_: They are on the mend, but maybe something like that could help out down the line.

_The Unplanner_: No, no, all ideas are welcomed. Promise I won't get overwhelmed.

_Reclusive Dork_: Or the anniversary of the Day his orphanage burned… that way Jin could get on that feeling as well. Maybe a good brother bonding moment.

_Fernandamichelleraya_: Oh, that's not fun.

_MeteorElDrago_: Knowing the kind of traps I could cause, that might be good for a laugh.

_Pally111_: Luckily Ragna washes, so there's little chance of it getting in the food.

_Flame1hedgehog_: Not to worry, try to come up with something new. Something's sure to stick.

_Guest_: I don't think we're at the stage that anyone's too territorial of him, but I could see a sort of rivalry event starting to form. It's an idea.

_**Until next time! Ciao!**_


	4. Reaper's Repast

Requested by P3R50N4

_Suggested Reading: Crimson XV Black Reunion_

_**Extra 004: Reaper's Repast**_

"It's over… at long last… finals are over," Ruby Rose groaned as she stumbled into her team's room, barely mustering the bit of strength needed to close the door behind her. She didn't even have enough energy to climb into her bed, instead electing to lean against the wall for support. "The end of term exams at _Signal_ were nothing like this. How isn't there some law saying it's illegal for testing to be this tough?"

"Ruby, you're exaggerating… less so than usual, but you're still exaggerating," Weiss said as she lay in bed already wearing her pajamas as she read through her magazines. Her hair was currently undone and wet after the shower she'd taken to try and relax.

"No I'm not! On my last test I actually had to use my semblance to write in the last of my answers and that test was three hours long!" she exclaimed, her legs giving out as she slid down to wall and seated herself on the floor. "...At least I knew the test material."

"After all of those late nights we had to spend studying, I feel like I could recite my textbooks from memory," Blake Belladonna commented as she laid in her bed as well. As soon as her finals had ended, the first thing on her mind was to grab a _catnap_. Unfortunately, she was actually too tired to fall asleep and had instead could only lie awake in bed. "At least we won't have to wait long for the results, just a few days…"

"And then we're all officially on break," Ruby said dreamily, already thinking of all the time off that she had been waiting for them. "Anyone here have big plans?"

"Aside from getting a certain _someone_ an actual wardrobe, I'm afraid I don't," Weiss said thinking to an earlier promise that had been made. "What about you Blake? Thinking about reconnecting with that friend of yours?"

"I would, but Makoto's actually going to be leaving the day the results are posted so we're not going to have a lot of time for that," the cat Fanus admitted. "Something about all of the girls spending vacation together."

"Bummer, but at least she's coming back next quarter," Ruby said, looking on the positive side. It was at that moment that there was a harsh banging on the door, much more aggressive than your normal knock like they were kicking on it. "It's open."

"My arms are already full; open the damn door," came Ragna's gruff voice on the other side. Sighing, she opened the door to find her best friend waiting on the other side… whilst carrying her older sister in a piggyback hold on his back. The usually spunky Yang was out cold with a small trial of drool falling from her mouth onto Ragna's jacket. "Pretty sure this is yours."

"What happened to her?" the fellow team lead demanded as she made room for Ragna to come in before closing the door behind him. Placing the blonde in her bed, he finally wiped the drool off his shoulder

"Soon as we got on the transportation back from the forest, she passed out cold," he explained. As part of everyone's finals, they would be judged in combat situations that were similar to their orientation exam. Failing to perform here wouldn't mean expulsion from the academy, but it was certainly one of the more heavily weighed exams at the academy. "If Ren didn't distract the procter while I booked it out of there, I'm pretty sure they would've docked her points."

"Nice of you to care about me." Ragna and Ruby both finched as she looked down at Yang in her bed. The blond still looked as exhausted as all hell, but her eyes were open as she looked at Ragna in a knowing smirk.

"...You were awake when you drooled on me?" he demanded, glancing to his still slightly damp shoulder.

"You know I wouldn't do that to you; I woke up a few halls down," she told him before trying to give him a charming smile. "Couldn't tell my _Knight in Shining Armor_ that his services weren't needed, now could I?"

"...I prefer _Reaper in a Red Coat_," Ragna decided, knowing that there was little chance in winning with Yang.

"Putting Yang teasing you aside for the moment," Weiss began.

"NEVER!"

"FOR THE MOMENT," Weiss ordered before looking accusingly at Ragna. "How are you still looking so fresh!? You just got out of finals, but you barely even look tired!"

"I was kinda wondering that myself," Yang said as she tried to fight back a yawn. "Start of the exam, he was looking just as bad as I was, but now he's looking as energetic and pissed as ever."

"You can really help a lot with the latter," the Reaper gruffly told her, leaving Yang to stick her tongue out. "As for the former… there's not a whole lot to say, I was in my element so of course I'd come out looking good."

"Hey, I might not be as big a _Grimm_ expert as you are, but I can do my fair share of fighting and then some," the blonde told him.

"No one's saying you can't," Ragna told her… before smirking harshly. "Unlike you though, I don't go all out first thing and get burned out halfway in."

"What?" Yang said, aghast at even the suggestion. "I don't-"

"You do," Weiss told her.

"First thing you do most of the time," her partner added.

"It's like you can't fight if you're not completely flashy," Ruby finished, even she was getting in on the accusations.

Yang wisely decided not to comment any further and get herself in a worse situation than she already was. Ragna couldn't help but smirk as he noticed the touch of pink on her face, earning himself a well earned win (though he was clearly far behind in the overall count). It didn't stay long as there was another knock at the door.

"Lot of visitors here today," Ruby noted before calling out. "It's open!"

Waiting on the other side of the door was someone the girls hadn't expected to see. Tsubaki Yayoi was outside in her academy uniform, looking about as exhausted as the rest of the students did now. There were slight bags under her eyes and her hair was messier than it usually was (anything other than perfectly styled), but she still looked like she was managing to hold up decently after her own exams.

"Never expected to see you around here," Weiss said, poorly hiding her protective tone.

"When I didn't find Ragna in his room, I thought it would make sense to check here," she said calmly, giving Weiss a smile that the Schnee heir was unsure how to take it.

"Safe bet," Ragna told her with a modest shrug. "So, what've I done now?"

"Passed your exams hopefully," Tsubaki told him, making it clear she wasn't here to chew him out for anything. "I was actually wondering if you didn't already have dinner plans."

"Dinner plans?" Ragna asked. He then remembered that (before the chaos of finals) he'd been trying to repair his team's dynamic. Noticing type of glances he was getting from Team _RWBY_, it was clear they wanted him to turn the offer down out of suspicion. "Nothing outside the usual cafeteria food. You got a craving for something?"

"I'll let you decide on the food," she said with a small smile. "Six o'clock at the gate? That'll give me time to freshen up."

"Fine by me. It's a da-"

The look she was giving him made it clear to Ragna that she wasn't willing to go that far.

"-Aaaaaaay plan. It's a day plan… evening plan if you want to split hairs," Ragna said, poorly trying to save face. Tsubaki didn't bother trying to hide her eye roll, but somehow still managed to leave and close the door with her smile intact. "There go my plans of heading straight to bed and staying there until break's over."

"You could've turned her down. Told her you were too tired, had plans, something," Blake informed.

"Yeah, but if she's reaching out like this I'd rather give her a chance," he admitted. "You didn't have anything you wanted to do to celebrate, did you?"

"Honestly, we're all so beat I'm not sure we can even make it to dinner," Ruby admitted, before looking up at Ragna seriously. "Just be careful. I know she's... mellowed out recently, but I've just got a bad feeling about this."

"You do, huh?" he questioned before chuckling as he patted the top of Ruby's head and caused her to blush. "Even after the sheer hell of finals, I think I've got anything she could try to throw at me." He chuckled. "Nice of you to worry about me though."

"Um…" Ruby said, blushing and unable to think of a response. "I…"

"...Sheesh, I'm Ruby's older sister and I don't dote on her nearly as much as you do," Yang cut in, causing Ragna to flinch as he took his hand back.

"Who's doting?" Ragna demanded, honestly not the best defence in this situation.

"You are…" Blake input, crossing her arms as she smiled at him knowingly.

"All the time…" Weiss added with her hands on her hips, her tone making it unclear whether she was disappointed or just plain jealous.

"...It's not like I mind," Ruby finished, scratching the back of her head. Without much of a comeback, Ragna only slowly nodded in admittance as he headed out the room to take a well needed shower… that or try poorly to save face. Once he was gone, Ruby glared at her team. "It's not like he was doing anything wrong."

"No, but it looked like you were getting close to overheating," Yang teased. Ruby gave her big sis a pout.

"I dunno, you got doted on enough for Ragna to carry you back," she retorted, trying to pull off Yang's teasing look and direct it back at her sister.

"True, true…" Yang said, before instead deciding to deflect to Weiss and Blake. "I guess that means you two are still completely left out."

"Oh, don't you get us involved in this!" Weiss demanded.

"Too late," the cat faunus sighed. Before pulling the blanket over and trying to get comfortable for another attempt at a nap. "If you're going to bicker, go outside or keep it down."

"We're not bickering!" Weiss screamed in denial.

"You a-" Ruby could barely start before Weiss shot her a look, ending the third vocal assault before it could even begin. Giving a small giggle, she began to gather a few things so that she could take her own shower.

_Not Long Later_

After getting a nice hot shower, Ragna was finally allowing the tension brought onto him by preparing and participating in _Beacon's_ finals. He didn't necessarily feel like he'd completely recovered (and there was always the tension on needing to wait on the results), but it felt a lot better than when he'd taken care of his written exams. He wouldn't say that this type of testing suited him at all, but it was a bit of fresh air compared to what he was usually put through… but that sort of felt like the problem.

'_Damn, doesn't feel like I've been getting that much stronger,'_ Ragna thought to himself as walked through the silent hallways of Beacon, everyone either at dinner by now or relaxing after a series of sleepless nights. _'Sure I've been heading out to hunt on my own every now and again, but compared to Jubei's training, I don't think I've been getting much tougher from it.'_

It was clear to the Reaper what he needed to do, find a new way to test himself in the coming days; find some way to make sure that he wasn't just wasting his time at _Beacon_ waiting to hear back from Qrow. Fighting in mack battles was always an interesting experience and he learned a few things from participating in those, the problem was that there only seemed to be a select few students that actually had a chance of keeping up with him… but there was one that hadn't been paired together in class yet.

'_Big as a pain of an ass he is, there's something about all of the raw power he's carrying that just doesn't seem right.. and that might be just what I need,'_ the Reaper considered. _'Maybe this way I can actually manage to reign that Mad Dog in… somewhat… Oh god, am I really doing this?'_

The future prospect beginning to worry him, he almost didn't notice that he was about to pass his own brother in the hallway. Giving a quick glance around, he realized that the two were alone in the immediate area. Jin might've been becoming calmer as the school year went on, but whenever the two brothers were alone like this their discussions had a tendency to become heated quickly.

"Heading to dinner?" Ragna asked, trying to keep his tone even in front of his brother. Jin didn't look like he was hoping to start something, but Ragna knew his brother wasn't nearly as transparent as the ice he wielded. His cold exterior was a different story entirely.

"Indeed, but it doesn't look like that's your plan," the Kisaragi heir noted, seeing his brother heading in the opposite direction.

"You're right; I'm eating out tonight," he said before a thought formed. "Courtesy of Tsubaki."

"Is that right?" Jin asked, not showing any otherwise unusual signs of reacting to the news.

"You put her up to this?" Ragna tried again, this time getting right to the point.

"Not in the direct way that you're thinking; I only suggested that she give you a chance," he informed. That was obvious to Ragna, he'd been told as much by Tsubaki herself.

"You know, it might be good if you followed your own damn advice," he bit, making it clear that he was still well aware of the conflict between the two of them.

"I already am," Jin informed as he passed his brother so that Ragna only had his back to look at. "I'm making sure that you have _any_ chance."

"Thanks but no thanks," Ragna told him as the two brothers head on their way. They hadn't raised their voice and there was only minimal swearing from Ragna, so that might've been one of their most peaceful encounters their entire time at _Beacon_. Shaking his head, the Reaper tried to put on a better face as he headed for the school entrance.

_Later -Vale City-_

"You'd think there'd be more people out with finals finished," Ragna noted as he walked along the streets of Vale with his partner. Tsubaki had changed out of what she usually wore (either her cream colored outfit or her school uniform) and was instead wearing a blue uniform with a long mini-skirt. Ragna had remembered her telling him that it had been her official uniform when she was at _Flare Academy_ with Noel and Makoto. He was wearing what he usual did (not like he had anything better to put on) and had just commented at not seeing a single _Beacon _student in sight.

"Most of them are probably still finishing up their finals as we speak," Tsubaki informed. "I hear that some of them are starting as late as ten tonight. Others are probably just too drained to have any hope of going out into the city."

"Definitely seeing a lot of the latter today," Ragna commented, remembering how everyone had been slumped over with exhaustion after the combat portion of the testing… at least he figured it was exhaustion, some of them might've just been depressed with worry of their less than stellar performances.

"What did you decide on for tonight?" Tsubaki asked, bringing their focus to the present.

"...Ramen; sort of my go to for comfort food," the Reaper decided (truthfully, it's one of the few types of food that he doesn't feel guilty about not cooking). "I remember hearing from someone that there was a good place a couple of streets down. That work for you?"

"It does, though I can't exactly say I'm any sort of ramen connoisseur," she admitted.

"Don't have to be, like I said this is comfort food," Ragna told her. It was then that he noticed that Tsubaki was acting off. Something about the way that she was standing just seemed rigid, like something about this whole thing made her feel almost on guard. "You… doing okay?"

"I'll be fine," she told him, trying to act a little more at ease, though Ragna could tell it was a forced effort. "I'm just a little tired after finals."

'_That sure as hell isn't it,'_ Ragna knew, but decided against pushing her on it for now. "Any problems with them?"

"Not with all of the studying I had to do, though finals weren't nearly this bad back at _Flare_," she told him as Ragna started leading the two to the shop. "Yours?"

"Think I'll manage," he told her. "Apparently I killed more _Grimm_ than anyone else, so that might just be the grade that saves me."

"That or your _Grimm Studies,_" Tsubaki added before smiling at him. "I'm starting to think you understand _Grimm _better than people."

"...You trying to tease me?" Ragna asked with surprise. Tsubaki couldn't hold it in any longer and had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling. "You too now... No offense, but after dealing with Team _RWBY_ it'll take more than that to faze me."

"I wasn't trying to faze you, I was just saying," Tsubaki told him, this time with a much more relaxed expression. Seemed her ridgedness was just nerves since she and Ragna hardly spent time alone with each other. "Is that the place over there?"

"Yeah, guess it's more stand than hole in the wall," Ragna admitted as he got a look at the place before turning to Tsubaki. "This work for you?"

"As long as there's somewhere for both of us to sit," she told him.

As it turned out they were the only ones dining at the moment, and not for a lack of people walking the streets. Normally an empty restaurant would be a bad sign, but Ragna also remembered that this place had started up only recently. Taking two seats beside each other, Tsubaki was surprised when she saw the greying old man that was running the shop.

"Pardon me for asking, but weren't you the owner for the dust shop that was robbed a few months back?" The man nodded sadly as he remembered his old shop which was still under repairs even now.

'_Old guy probably needs the business then,'_ Ragna figured, deciding he'd pass this place along if it passed his muster. "You got udon noodles and kakiage?" The old man only gave him a thumbs up. "I'll take a large Tentama bowl then; pretty hungry."

"I'll have the same, but a small bowl please," Tsubaki told him. Smiling at both of them, the old man turned to prepare the dishes. Once his back was turned, Tsubaki whispered to Ragna. "What's tentama?"

"You… you don't know?" Ragna questioned. Now Tsubaki was starting to faze him.

"I told you I don't know much about Ramen," she reminded as the old man continued cooking. "Is… is it fattening?"

"It is," he informed, leading Tsubaki to grow worried as she wasn't the type to over indulge. "Just be glad that you ordered the small bowl."

"If it's so fattening, then how are you able to stay so thin?" she demanded. Ragna only glanced down to his belt where his sword was resting.

"I burn a lot of calories; kind of have to when I'm swinging this thing around like crazy," he told her with a chuckle.

"...Can you tell me something?" she asked, her voice showing that small bit of hesitation and rigidness that it had earlier. He gave a slow nod. "Any… is there any reason why you brought your sword with you, even though we're just on a small trip into town?"

'_...Dammit, I knew I should've gone back for this later,'_ the Reaper realized. "It's got nothing to do with you… just have something I need to take care of after this." This did little to ease Tsubaki and even the stall owner went rigid with fear. _'SHIT!'_ "It.. it's not like that… I'm just… I sort of felt like…"

"Like…?" Tsubaki asked, her nervousness showing through as she stared blankly at her partner.

"...Can you keep a secret?" Ragna asked her. Tsubaki didn't answer right away, but eventually nodded her head, if only to get an elaboration. Ragna then looked to the increasingly terrified shopkeeper, who only raised a single finger to his lips. "Lately I've been… well I've been _Grimm _hunting out in the woods."

"You've been…" Tsubaki began.

"I got special permission from Ozpin, but I'm supposed to keep it to myself," he admitted. "It's just a little something I do to…" He very well couldn't have said 'relax' so he settled on a different phrase. "Just a little something to keep my edge."

"Right, you were traveling around before you came to _Beacon_," she realized. "But you're hunting them at night? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Kind of…" he admitted, before getting a teasing smirk. "But I'd be more afraid of Goodwitch if I started skipping classes to do it."

"You've got odd priorities," Tsubaki told him before she gave a small smile herself. The noodle stall owner didn't understand much of what was happening, but since the situation seemed to be reasolving he felt a bit more at ease. Speaking of noodles, it wasn't then that their orders were finally done and the two differently sized bowls were put in front of the starving customers.

"Damn this smells good," Ragna said as he looked at the soup bowl in front of him. There were five slices of hearty beef on the side, nice and thick udon noodles, crispy kakiage (shrimp and vegetable tempura), and a sunny side egg that was perfectly cooked. Grabbing his set of chopsticks, Ragna broker the two apart. "Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu," Tsubaki said as well, most likely copying Ragna since she saw him as the expert here. Taking her first few bites, Tsubaki almost felt overwhelmed by the flavors. Hearing a soft crunching beside her, she saw that Ragna was going all in and starting with the tempura shrimp. She went for that next, only to find that some of the yolk from the egg had spilled onto her piece. That didn't do anything to dampen the flavor and the cooked shrimp underneath was bursting with flavor.

"What do you think?" Ragna asked confidently, seeing how much Tsubaki was enjoying herself. He wasn't the only one smiling as the stall owner was proud to have another set of seemingly satisfied customers.

"It's delicious," Tsubaki told him. "Although… I think I might need to work it off when we're done here."

"Work it off?" Ragna repeated, realizing that she was asking to join him. "You sure you're up for hunting the day you had?"

"I should be fine, after all I have you to cover for me," she told him. Ragna gave a slow nod. "That and… I think it's high time that the two of us started to take our teamwork seriously."

"Right after finals?"

"We'll have to start some time," Tsubaki told him. "Besides, think of this like we're retaking the entrance exam. We can use this to see what needs more work and what strengths we already have."

"...As long as you're willing, I'm ready to put the effort in," Ragna promised as he went back to the noodles. _'Maybe this can actually work after all.'_

_That Night -BEACON-_

"Soooo…" Yang uncomfortably began as she stood in the lobby to the dormitories. Even though it was late after an already exhausting day, the girls had decided to stay up until Ragna had returned (a few of them were still a little skeptical of Tsubaki). Not only had Ragna come back later than they figured it would take (as far as they knew he was only grabbing dinner), he'd arrived... not in the way they'd expected.

"Not. A damn. Word." Ragna's scowl was more annoyed than fierce, but that didn't mean he was ready for any of Yang's commentary. Making his way past her and the others, he carried the sleeping Tsubaki on his back to her room. The redhead had lasted for a few hours fighting in the wilds, but eventually all of the stress from the past few weeks had caught up with her and she'd passed out, leading Ragna to have to escort her piggyback style much the same as he'd done for Yang earlier.

"I'll make sure Goodwitch isn't around to make a fuss about bringing her back," Ruby promised. Nodding, Ragna head back to his team's room while Ruby rushed off to find the instructor and keep her busy.

"So is this a good sign, a bad sign? What?" Blake questioned the others, trying to get a gauge on the current relationship between the two partners.

"It's… a _Ragna_ sign," Weiss finally decided.

"Both?"

"Both."

_**Author's Note**_

_**Just a fun little chapter that I've gotten and decided to put out in the middle of things. A lot of people had been suggesting that I include a chapter of Ragna and Tsubaki working to repair their relationship, so I decided that this here would be a decent way to start.**_

_**The core story of 'Grimm Reaper's of Remnant' is up next and we'll be starting on the second Volume, but I might be making a couple of changes this time around… whilst trying to stay along the path of the regular events.**_

_**Now them, let's get a couple of reviews taken care of.**_

_MeteorElDrago_: Think the first part of your comment might've been cut, but thanks.

_Dracus6_: I haven't gotten to playing Three Houses yet (sacrilegious, I know) so that's going to be off the table for quite a bit.

_Lawiegg_: ...I guess someone had to say it.

_The Unplanner_: Damn autocorrect… But I wouldn't say Ragna was spineless per say, just a little annoyed at the play of events.

_EpicLinkSam_: Crap, that totally could've worked… ah well, hindsight is 20/20.

_ArmantusCumPianne_: Yeah, there was just a lot to be done in this chapter, I didn't think I could cover every route. What I did was give it a much more general start.

_P3R50N4_: I'll get to those eventually, but I agree that 'Soul' needs an update.

_Fernandamichelleraya_: That's what I was trying to call on, with all of the back to school sales that were still happening at the time.

_Ragriz_: Nice of you to say, always hoping to keep improving.

_Seriously_: I mean sure, I could've done Joseph, but I like more in my references than 'Oh, these people share the same VA's' not that there's anything wrong with that. Jotaro and Ragna are much closer in personality and have that whole delinquent stigma so I think this works better, but that's just my two cents.

_Pally111_: Yeah, I'm kinda hoping to develop a fleshed out friendship(?) between the two of them by the end of this.

_GrimmJowTaichou_: Much as I like Bleach that would be a hell of an investment and I've got a lot to keep working through until then… I dunno, maybe I'll do a one shot and see if it takes off.

_**Until the next chapter I put out everyone. Ciao!**_


	5. Masks

_Suggested Reading: Crimson XII Grimmest Night_

**_Extra 005: Masks_**

For the few groups of people that would celebrate it, _Grimm's Day_ would be a day of full of festivities. It would be a day of celebration, a day to dress in ridiculous if slightly provocative costumes, a day to eat cheap food that would go straight to your waistline… and that was before night fell and the crazed nature of the celebrations truly began.

...Adam Taurus was not in a festive mood.

He absolutely despised _Grimm's Day_, especially since the _White Fang_ had taken to wearing bestial metal masks, not unlike the costume that were often worn on this day. Every time he saw someone in their ridiculous outfit, it only served to remind him how much humans treated his organization like a complete joke. He wouldn't be entirely surprised if more had taken to dressing up in recent times, if only to make his group seem like a mockery when they should have been cowering in fear of the _Faunus_.

Since he knew he'd be especially irate tonight he'd secluded himself a short ways away from the campgrounds, sitting cross legged atop a small hillcliff while he held his scabbard katana at his side. His slim _Grimm_ mask kept him enigmatic, and he preferred it that way… especially as he realized he was no longer alone.

"So I'm left in charge babysitting while you waltz off as you please and meditate without a care in your head? Must be nice."

"Hazama…" the bull Faunus observed, unable to hide the growl as he named the approacher. Any of his subordinates would have known better than to annoy him with this meaningless drivel, least of all when he wanted to be alone like he did now. Hazama had showed that he was more than clever enough to know how Adam felt; he simply didn't care.

"You seem to be in a foul mood, though not much worse than I was earlier." With a strange smile on his face, Hazama almost made it seem like he was in a _good_ mood now, like he'd caught wind of something that his chaotic mind could interpret as decent news. What that could've possibly been Adam didn't know and frankly, he didn't want to.

"If you don't have anything of substance to say, I ask that you leave," Adam told him, choosing his words carefully as he knew that the three way partnership between the _White Fang_, Roman Torchwick's goons, and whatever client Hazama represented was already a strained agreement. Moving to make things worse could turn costly for all of them, and Adam had already agreed to hold up his end of the bargain.

"Touchy touchy, is it something about the air out here or are you in a worse mood than you usually are?" Hazama then snapped his fingers as he pretended to come to a realization. "That's right, it's _Grimm's Day_ isn't it? Are you just upset that you're no longer a trend setter by wearing your little mask? It's only for one day." The green haired snake's smile only seemed to grow. "Maybe I should pick one up tonight! That way we can be twinsies!"

While he didn't unsheath the full katana, Adam pressed his thumb against its guard to act like he was readying the blade. The harsh red metal easily reflected the deep orange cast by the setting sun. This didn't go unnoticed by Hazama, who only put his hands up as he took a step back, letting that particular subject drop for now. Adam would have preferred him to leave completely, but he'd consider this a minor victory.

"Hmph, guess that's enough friendly chit-chat for now," the instigator admitted, dusting his tuxedo off from the thick air. "You know about the small settlement eight clicks to the north, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Adam responded readily. While eight miles wasn't that far, the _White Fang_ camp was set on a large bluff overlooking the path leading through the dense woodlands that separated them. It had been Adam's idea to set up here, as they could easily prepare defenses as needed.

"I'll need you to head there tonight; important business, very hush hush. Only you, no one else."

_'That's supposed to be an order?'_ the radical thought to himself with growing ire. "And what exactly am I to do once I get there?"

"I have no idea," Hazama told him, his happy demeanor making it too obvious that he was only stringing him along. "I guess… go with your gut and do what you have to?"

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Adam demanded, his thumb edging his sword out just the slightest bit further. Hazama didn't let on that he noticed the sword, most likely ignoring the threat. "Don't make me laugh. Who on earth would command someone with such vague words as those?"

"Oh, a sharp one are we? Even with that little… no never mind, that's not important," the snake noted, his smile now showing teeth in his demented grin. "I understand that you wouldn't want to listen to what I have to say; speaking to you with nothing but unfiltered mockery, provoking you at every turn I get, and all I ever give you in return are my little half truths."

"If you understand that I won't listen to what you have to say, then why are you bothering?" Adam asked, trying to grasp a stronger control of his emotions around this man. He didn't know what it was, but something about Hazama made him want to hate him and it wasn't just his constant instigating.

"Because, this time I'm very much speaking the truth when I say that you need to head out and if you don't listen to what I have to say then things could turn very dire. Yes, this could turn into quite the problem for all of us tonight. And just who would the blame lie with if you didn't listen to me?"

"If it's that important, do it yourself. I'm sure you could handle it," Adam shot down.

"Maybe I could, but you know it's not in my interest to get involved in these silly little distractions. And if my client were to discover that you couldn't even handle this much? Goodness knows the faith they'd loose in you… it's your move." Rolling his jacket sleeve back, Hazama checked the silver watch on his wrist. "You have time, but I'd recommend that you head out as soon as you're ready. I'd recommend taking a disguise with you, but since you're always wearing that mask of yours…" He sent a smile that sickened Adam to his core. "I think you'll fit right in tonight."

_'Bastard.'_

Needless to say, Adam only left once he was sure that Hazama was gone from sight. He wouldn't give the man any satisfaction of seeing him off in person.

_Later_

The sun had set completely on his journey to the village, but Adam had the shattered moon to light his path forward. He moved swiftly but carefully, ensuring that he wouldn't leave a trail of any sort back to the _White Fang's_ campground. There were hardly any _Grimm_ about as he traveled and those that he did come across took no notice of him. He stuck to the shadows like an assassin, staying undetected until his hand would be forced to combat. It would be stupid to take these risks where he didn't need to; staying alive at any means necessary _was_ always a part of his greater goals.

It didn't take him long to reach his target, though when he got close he was starting to have second thoughts. He heard the loud music blasting painfully against his ears and the smell wasn't any less offensive. A part of him wanted to trust that nothing would have to happen if he left now, that this was only a part of Hazama's stupid games… but he knew too well that Hazama would never try to trick him with a plan this simple. Growling to himself, he made his preparations.

As he'd been advised, the only major part of his outfit that he'd have to do away with was his upper jacket. Leaving it on a small branch a short distance from the village wouldn't be an issue, so long as he didn't forget the location he could easily retrieve it on his way back. He didn't even have to debate the issue of leaving his weapon behind; an effective enough lie would ensure that he could still keep it in his possession and for all he knew he might need to ensure that it was constantly in his possession tonight. Taking one last lengthy breath to steel himself for what he was about to put himself through, he headed into the small village.

The first thing he had to take notice of was how offensive some of the costumes were. While he'd heard about a few bandit groups and other outlaws using _Grimm_ masks as he did, seeing someone use it in this setting only served to get on his nerves. They were made with cartoonish designs and shoddy workmanship, and the rest of the costumes weren't much better. Many of them were just adults wearing black clothing, some of it torn. Others were wearing fur that smelled like it either hadn't been washed in a while or came from an excessively fresh kill. The ones that weren't bulky and inconvenient were tight and suggestive, oddly making Adam stand out in his plain black pants and a red button up shirt.

It was difficult to get through this crowd of humans; many of them were stumbling drunk out of their minds, there were children running around under foot in their Hunter costumes without supervision, and debris from the celebration already littered the streets. Luckily enough, no one seemed to take much notice of him in their stuppors; he only had to ensure that he didn't bump shoulders with too many drunkards.

The square at the center of the village was denser than the streets, there he found no shortage of village dancing, playfully screaming children, and drinking… plenty of that last one. Staying off to the side, Adam scoured his surroundings with his eyes and hoped that he'd find what Hazama had loosely hinted at so he could be done with this hell.

"Heyyyyyyyy! What are you doin' all the way over here?"

Though the call came not five feet from his face, Adam couldn't help but flinch at it. The woman he saw was… questionable. Unlike the others who wore masks, this one had settled for a pale makeup based with other markings drawn on top though it had already started to smear from the grease of the food. Her clothing was dark and raggidy, the front of her top was low which showed off plenty of her cleavage. Despite looking roughly the same age as him, this woman was already halfway through the tankard of beer she was drinking.

"Come on! Aren't you going to join in and have some fun?" she asked again, trying to shoot Adam a flirty smile. He wasn't entertained, a large part of him thought hoped dearly that she'd leave him alone before things became complicated. "Huh? Don't recognize you from around tha' town."

"...They hired me for guard duty tonight," Adam lied. It was hardly a convincing lie, but given the girl's current state he wasn't so sure that she'd be up for questioning him. He was right to a degree, but it clearly wasn't without its own trouble.

"Aw, so you're here to make me feel safe?" the woman said as she tried to look up at Adam in more provocative pose. "You going to be my knight in shining armor for _Grimm Night_?"

"Find someone else; I'm only here until I get paid." If he wanted to be seen as a mercenary, he knew that he needed to act like one. Copying the attitude he'd seen in passing mercs would serve him well enough here… or so he thought.

"Aw come on! Join in! It's not like we've got a ton of _Grimm _around here and the music will scare them away!" Adam knew enough about the _Grimm_ that the statement was full of shit. Shaking his head at the audacity of it, he moved onward. "Hey! Where are you going!?"

_'Whatever it is Hazama thinks is so damned important to find, he sure isn't making it easy for me to do so.'_ Adam glaced around his surroundings and tried to get the lay of the land. _'Nothing of note over here either, don't tell me it's in one of the buildings. There's no way I'd have the time to infiltrate all of them and check.'_

_WHACK!_

"Gah!"

Gripping the top of his head in pain, he turned back to glare daggers (as much as the mask allowed him) at the girl he'd been trying to avoid. She looked more than a little pissed with him, as she held the wooden sword he'd been hit with in her right hand.

"Hey! That's mine!" a young boy yelled. His huntsman outfit was just as ragged and dirty as the others

"I'm just going to borrow it for a bit," the woman told him, though she didn't take her eyes off of Adam. "Go tell Vic to give you some of that sweet potato crap you like and tell you mum I said it was alright, I'll give it back when I swing that way later."

"Deal!" the child said, running off more than content with the deal.

"Mind explaining why you're still bothering me?" Adam demanded, his voice having an obvious threatening edge to it. With a constant glare still on her she was somehow either too stupid to notice, too drunk to care… or too brave to back down.

"Bothering you, huh!? That's nice! Saying those things when I'm just tryin' ta be friendly!" Her obnoxious behavior was calling both eyes and comments their way, he couldn't afford either. Somehow, he needed to calm this fool down.

"To be fair, I never asked you to be so friendly…" Adam tried to tell her reasonably. This didn't exactly work too well as she took another swing at him with her wooden sword, though this time he was ready so he easily managed to dodge it. "Will you stop that?"

"Oh, I'm just getting started!" she shouted, throwing her half full beer tankard which he knocked to the side with his sheathed sword.

"You're just getting annoying," he tried to tell her off, knocking another blade to the side with just his forearm. "Just stop this; you're causing a scene for no good reason." The time he to side step a kick to his groin. "Will you just-!?" He lost his temper just a bit as she went for a full lunge, after easily dodging the attack he delivered a powerful sucker punch to the woman's gut, forcing her to collapse to her knees from the attack. "Enough."

Glancing around, he noticed that his last action had caused more than a few people to grow suspicious of him. It would be much harder for him to use his 'hired security' excuse now that they'd seen him hit a woman of the village. Even if these people were drunk, they did have eyes in their heads.

"Heh… heh heh…" Adam was shocked to see that the girl he'd knocked over was actually chuckling at him. Looking down at her, the smile on her face actually looked larger than it had before. "Finally, a guy here with some actual balls."

_'Not the reaction I was expecting, but I suppose it can keep me out of trouble,'_ he reasoned. "So what's your real reason for bother… for bothering _with_ me?"

"Cause you didn't look like you having a good time when I saw you; everyone should be celebrating and you're just off on your lonesome without anyone to spend tonight with." Adam felt his annoyance grow, only this time it was the catcalls from the onlookers that caused it and not the girl. "That… and even that mask of yours on I can still tell that you're the best looking guy here." He admitted that the following awkward silence from the onlookers was actually satisfactory.

"Even if you say that, I-" Adam couldn't continue as she got right up in his face to whisper something.

"I already know why you're really here…"

...That was when this stopped looking like a party, more like a trap. Even if they were deep in their drinks, there were still Huntsmen and Huntresses in this small little village and that would be dangerous. If they had any form of communication, they could call for help easily enough. Adam knew that there were plenty of governments that would want his head displayed upon their desk. If wanted to fight his way out, he needed to do it now while he still had the element of surprise in his first strike. Slowly reaching towards his sword, he-

"You're here to crash the party, snag some of the free spread. Aren't you?"

_'...What was I expecting?'_ Adam thought, forcing his body to relax. "...You caught me."

"Good, so spend some time with me and I won't have ta bring up the fact that you snuck your way in. Deal?"

_'She's blackmailing me… but this could work if I'm supposed to find something while I'm here,'_ he decided, figuring these annoyance couldn't be that much worse than Hazama. He only gave her a small nod, leaving her to smile as she backed off so they could stop whispering. "Lead on then… but no dancing."

"Don't worry, I won't give you the chance to embarrass yourself," she promised him with a flirty smile, wrapping both of her arms around Adam's. "...By the way, I like the horns on your mask; really completes the look."

"...Thank you," he tried to say in a normal tone. "So where are we going first?"

"To get topped off, I distinctly remember throwing my drink at an idiot earlier."

"Don't you think you've had enough?" he asked, a bit concerned that a girl her age would already be drinking this much.

"Not nearly! They only bring this stuff out a few times every year!" she told him, almost offended by the idea that she should stop. "Give some a try, you'll see!"

"Too bad, I'm not the drinking type."

"Well you're about to be! Our pumpkin beer is something else!"

"Pumpkin beer is still beer…" Adam tried to tell, keeping a conversation while keeping his eyes out for the threat Hazama had been talking about… tonight was going to get complicated.

_Drinking_

_'She really wants me to drinks this swil?'_ Adam thought hesitantly to himself while his guide for the evening chugged her beer down like it was nothing. "Come on, you don't expect me to…" He couldn't even finish, of course she did.

"Come on, don't let yourself get outdone on the very first drink!" she tried to cheer him on. Even if Adam wanted to begin by taking small sips, it was clear that she wanted him to chug it all down like she had. Figuring he'd keep her happy for now, he went all in and began chugging his drink. "THERE YOU GO! DON'T LET A DROP GO TO WASTE!"

He had to fight hard not to spew it out all at once. The burning sensation in his mouth and throat was unbearable, but he was able to fight through it. Finally, finishing his drink his pushy date all but applauded him.

"There you go! Now you've got it down!" she encouraged before looking to their server. "Another round!"

"...Not too much in mine," Adam tried to protest, already feeling the alcohol going straight to his head.

_Eating_

_'Don't they have anything that isn't fried or completely covered in grease? Or both?_' His guide didn't seem to have any qualms, filling up her plate up before quickly tearing into the messy food.

"I thought you were here for the food?" she noted, her words oddly coherent for a mouth half full. Continuing to play into his cover but not wanting to get any grease on him, he went for one of the breaded options; _Fried Green Tomatoes_. Taking a bite… he was honestly impressed. "Oh, you like 'em? That's what I brought to the party."

"It's… pretty good." Surprisingly, Adam actually meant it enough to go for seconds.

_Dancing_

"I TOLD YOU NO DANCING!"

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure!?" Taking Adam out with the rest of the dancing villagers, she forced him into the center. Trying not to screw his cover with an ineptitude for dancing, Adam was at least somewhat relieved to find that the dances were easy to mimic.

...It was still hell on his stomach.

_The Hangover_

_'I. AM GOING. TO KILL HIM.'_ Adam promised as he lurched forward, holding onto a tree for support as he vomited on the forest's floor. He'd ended up spending a full three hours at the party being dragged from one event to the other, all to try and find the danger that Hazama had warned him about. Not only had there been zero signs of any foreseeable trouble, he'd had to spend all of that time drinking, eating, and dancing so much to put on airs that he actually felt like he was suffering for his attempt. _'Need to… get back to camp…'_

After he'd made a point to grab his coat, his trek back to the campgrounds became much slower than his trip to the village. His eyesight was blurry from his drinking and he was only now starting to get his vomiting under control after the party. If the unit serving under his command could see him now, it'd likely break the threatening image he'd been building this whole time. As such, he was only taking a casual walk while his aura slowly healed the condition caused by the night of partying.

_'At least this is the worst of it,'_ he tried to tell himself, before only shaking his head. _'No, the worst part of this is that I still need to deal with that idiot when I get back. I fell for his trick, I should have known that this would have been just a lie to-'_

Adam couldn't finish that thought as he had to strain his hearing. He heard rustling in the bushes near him, like someone was hurrying his way. Despite still in poor condition with his stomach, he forced himself to make a quick and powerful leap into the treeline above him. Grabbing ahold of a strong branch with one hand while holding his sword with the other, he only waited and observed. There were four of them total, and each of them was equipped with a rugged set of armor and a transforming weapon of some kind.

_'A Huntsman team? Out here?'_ Adam considered as he watched them continue to run the opposite direction. _'They're going to the village in quite a rush, and they're running from-'_ Gritting his teeth, he realized that Hazama had indeed been telling the truth. Using his upper body strength to flip himself onto the top of the branch, he took off in pursuit to track the group of _Huntsmen._

Eventually the group came to a stop, each of them completely exhausted with their running. Adam was relatively fresh via comparison, but the heavily excessive partying would still play in as a minor nusuince.

"Damn… just damn… are they following us?" one of the members swore as they fought to catch their breath. "Are those freaks following us?"

"If they were we'd already be dead… Never thought they'd come out here…"

"Just what the hell do those animals think they're doing!?" another with a racist mouth shouted off. "They're going to kill us all if we don't do something!"

"All of you calm down; we still have a job to do," the largest one told them as he managed to stand at full height. He had military styled blonde hair, an almost exaggerated build to him, higher end huntsman equipment complete with a powerful looking crossbow, and was the only one in the group that wasn't already breathing heavily. When he spoke, everyone else seemed to face him like they were looking to him for guidance. "Listen, if we can make to the village and radio for help, there's a chance that there will be a reward in it for us if they can catch the bastards. We just can't lose our heads, not out here."

"...If you say so boss man," the panicking third member said, rising to their feet as they got ready to continue their sprint. "I think I can just about see the village from here, one more good run and we'll-"

**(Cue _Sonic the Hedgehog _**_Mephelis Phase 2 _Extended**)**

The sudden sound of a blade cleaving through the air, followed by the quick _clack _as two shoes landed the to the forest's ground. The huntsmen jolted as a powerful breeze blew past their ambusher, the winds sending powerful ripples through his dark clothing. The red and white sigil on his back gave off a slight glow, indicating some form of power lurking within him. Adam slowly took his recently drawn crimson blade and sheathed with a satisfying _click_… right as the lead Huntsman's head fell from his shoulders, his neck producing a geyser of crimson.

**"BOSSSSSS!"** one of the remaining huntsman yelled in agony of someone who had obviously been a long time friend. That feeling quickly shifted to rage as he shifted his weapon from a two-handed warhammer to a submachine gun. **"YOU FAUNUS BASTARD!"**

Staying quick on his feet, Adam ran off to the side just as the hail of bullets showered the area he'd been standing just an instant prior, tearing through the treeline and shredding oakwood to pieces. He continued to run as a means to outrun the machine gunner's turning spread, only partially unsheathing his katana to that he could block the sniper shot from one of the member's sniperspear. Coming to a sudden stop, he managed to flip of the machine gun fire before rushing forward for a mad dash. The third huntsman clicked his two shortswords together which quickly parted down their middles to reveal a double barrel rifle. Anticipating the next shot, Adam leapt up and barely dodged the burst of bullets before soaring into the branches above.

The remaining three huntsmen fired their weapons off in quick succession into the sea of breaches above, trying to overwhelm him with their spread firepower. All the three succeeded in doing was causing countless tree branches to fall upon them, a short distraction that their attacker used to his advantage. Landing on the ground from the tree line a short distance away, Adam rushed for the shotgun user that had stopped his last assault.

"Look out!" the spearman shouted as a warning. Adam just managed to unsheathe his sword sword to where he could block the spearpoint. Not letting him leap into the trees a second time, the spearman then moved to engage him in combat. Not only was this _Huntsman_ a master of the spear, they apparently had a strong _Speed Semblance_ as well, boosting his swing speed to absurd heights and forcing Adam to the defensive. Using his katanta, he managed to guard against most of the strikes, but two of them pierced through his defenses and caught him just above his right shoulder and another cut close to his rib cage.

"KEEP THAT BASTARD RIGHT THERE! I'LL FINISH HIM OFF IN ONE SHOT!"

In his desperate defense Adam saw that the shotgunner was starting to glow with a vicious red aura that almost seem to be pouring into his weapon as he charged the attack. Realizing that he was in a desperate enough situation with the lancer and taking the full force of that attack would spell his end, he went for a risky play. Unleashing his semblance and channeling the energy he'd collected in his blade, he made a single mighty counter slash at his opponent's spear and broke the weapon to pieces in a single cut. Quickly following up, Adam then scored a hit on their jugular before slamming his hilt in his opponent's side, sending him right in between himself and the shotgun user, just as they fired off their charged shot.

The end result was… gruesome; the lancer's entire body exploded into gore and viscera, completely coating his partner who'd been trying to help him. The shotgunner just stood there in horror at what he'd done, dazed at the fatality caused by his own hand and coated in the remains of a good friend. All the machine gunner felt was rage, continuing to fire a multitude of shots off as Adam proceeded to use his sword with such blinding speeds that he managed to knock away every bullet.

"You… YOU SON OF A BITCH!" the bloodspattered Huntsman shouted, changing his weapon back to its twin shortsword form and charging straight for Adam.

"Don't do it!"

Adam seemed to smile as he leaped into the air as the bullets tore through the tree behind him, landing with his feet on a tree base. He kicked off it with enough force to cause a small sonic boom and he lunged forward with his blade, decapitating his head in exactly the same way he'd killed their leader.

_'Only one left,'_ Adam thought to himself, rushing forward for the last surviving member as they changed their weapon back into it's melee form. As his opponent unleashed a devastating upward slash that he managed to sidestep, Adam went for a quick cut to his side only to have the attack knocked away by the Huntsman's gauntleted hands.

Leaping back, Adam managed to dodge the warrior powerful overhead attack which smashed the ground he'd been standing upon. As they went for another upward slash, Adam just barely managed to block the attack with his katana, absorbing considerable energy into the blade. Channeling his semblance once more, he went for a fatal slash to finish his opponent only to stumble. It wasn't his clumsiness or the alcohol that had caused it. As the dust on the ground indicated the entire area had been hit by a small tremor, mostly likely the result of his opponent's semblance. He didn't have too long to ponder it as the warhammer's head hit him square in the ribs.

Adam yelled out in pain as he dropped his sheath and flew through the air and rolled painfully on the ground before his back slammed into a tree, the impact launching the mask he always wore from his face as he struggled to recover. His opponent wasn't going to give him time to do so.

**"YOU'RE DEAD ASSHOLE!"**

The huntsman roared as he leaped though the air, holding in a weapon up in an attack that would turn Adam into paste. Looking up and facing his intimate demise, Adam showed his face for the first time in a long while. Something about what he saw caused the Huntsman to flinch, if only for the absolute briefest of instances… his final mistake.

Roaring like a rabid beast as he overcharged his semblance, Adam made one final slash with his empowered sword. The mere shockwave cleaved both the Huntsman's armor and body, roughly cleaving him into two bloody halves… and carving through many trees in the surrounding area.

(End theme)

"...Dammit, that was sloppy of me," Adam groaned as he slowly rose to his piece and picking his _Grimm_ mask off the ground. Glancing up at the shattered moon, he took a long and almost melancholic look before returning the piece to its rightful place.

_That Morning_

Adam took his time getting back to the campsite, for he knew exactly who would be waiting for him once he arrived. It was a second confrontation that might've been inevitable, but if saw that instigator again he knew he'd lose his temper and do something far too rash. Arriving at the edge of the campsite, he was slightly perplexed not to see the green haired man already waiting for his return. Instead, he was approached by a _White Fang_ retainer (a male fox Fanus) who gave him a salute once they came to a stop.

"Sir, are you injured?" they asked immediately, noticing that Adam had been roughed up since the last time his troops had seen him.

"Only my pride, it's nothing," Adam told him. By now his physical injuries were irritating at worst; he'd be fully healed by the end of the day as long as he maintained his aura.

"I see. Welcome back, though. That snake, I-I mean Hazama told us that you'd left the camp and that you probably wouldn't be back until morning. We did find his words questionable, but we had faith in your abilities." Adam already knew the truth, that demon had a sick and annoying way of getting people to do what he wanted, this it meant having the rest of the force stay out of the affairs. "Aside from that, the lookouts continue to give us the all clear; no threats to report in our parameters."

"...Is that right?" Adam asked with a growl, the force behind this simple action causing the retainer to take a needed step back. "Then they go without food for the rest of the day as punishment for their failure. No, for their incompetence."

"Are you certain that's-?"

"Are you questioning me?" Adam only had to slowly rise his katana for the retainer to take a cautious step back. He was in too foul of a mood to repeat himself. Knowing better than to push their luck, the retainer only saluted again before departing to deliver the news of punishment themselves.

"You've got an odd way of handling your subordinates," came the voice that Adam had been expecting. It didn't make things any easier for him, evident by the groan that escaped his lips. "Quite the party animal, aren't you? No racism intended."

"You wasted my time," he hissed back with sharp teeth.

"Did I? I could've sworn that you managed one last _Danse Macabre_ on your way back from the party. And if those scary _Huntsmen_ had let the entire village know about our little encampment, that would've been tragic."

"You couldn't have spotted them around our campsite by the time we spoke, and there was no possible way you could've known that I would encounter then on my way back from the village," Adam told him. "Just how did you know everything would play out like it did last night?"

"Well… let me just say I have my ways and we should just leave it there." Hazama's smile was feigning complete innocence and Adam absolutely hated everything about it.

"Do you have _anything_ to offer us, because all I'm seeing now are your stupid little ploys and those infuriating half truths you keep spouting." Adam was finally let his aggression leak through, but he didn't care. If Hazama was continuing to push him without any returns, he was ready to kill him and end this useless agreement.

"If you're going to be insistent like this, I suppose that I can at least throw you a bone." Grabbing something from behind his back, Hazama tossed a small object towards. Adam's warrior reflexes kicked in and his hand was on his sword's hilt the next instant, before recognizing the object. Hazama's smile only seemed to grow as Adam stared at the wooden sword. "A little gift from me to you. Though I have to admit… what I'm offering is only leftovers."

Adam was quick to notice the additions to the plaything from last night; the new cracks, the burnt edges… the crimson bloodstains. Turning his eyes to the horizon, he spotted the dark smoke clouds exactly where he expected to find them; eight miles to the north. Hazama's face hadn't changed in the slightest as he only continued to grin happily.

"...Why?" He wasn't sad about a meaningless loss of life. He should shed no tears of those he'd just met, especially if they were humans. He was only angry that he constantly had to endure this bastard's verbal toying

"You know, you actually had a pretty good point earlier; I _have _been giving you too many half truths as of late, and I've also been trying to rile you up a little too much. So just this once, how's about I come completely clean? I did it…"

It only took a few short strides, but Hazama easily put himself right in front of Adam. Now his eyes were finally opened, revealing a venomous set of yellow irises that almost seemed to glow with power. Towering slightly over Adam, he looked down with pure savagery eminatating off of his complexion.

_"I DID IT BECAUSE I DAMN WELL WANTED TO."_ Though Adam didn't seem to react in any noticeable way, Hazama finally let himself relax as his words seemed to take their effect. "I dearly hope you don't have a problem with that."

"...If you ever do anything this reckless and endanger the _White Fang_ a second time, it won't matter what Mistress you represent. I'll kill you myself…"

"Oh, duly noted," Hazama assured, taking a step back before he gave a bow as he removed the hat from atop his head. "I would suggest that you that you take it easy for the rest of the day, perhaps get some sleep. You've had a long night after all."

"And whose fault is that?" Despite Adam's rhetorical question, he decided not to prod at the issue and make it any worse. Turning his back to Hazama, he began a slow walk back to his tent.

_'And fun times were very much had,'_ Hazama decided as he put his favored hat back on, holding it at an angle so it would cover his eyes. _'Fun as it is to mess with what's right in front of me, I guess I oughta give that project a second look. I just hope you haven't already bleed out and… Oh… MY.'_

Even though it was a great distance from him, Hazama could see the events unfolding as clear as day. He saw one that he had wronged more than any other, one that had undergone suffering leagues above anything he'd put Adam through. He sat him from within his small little room, sitting upon his bed… cradling a crying girl in his arms. She had black hair and a black bow… but he knew what the fabric was hiding Oh yes, he recognized _her._

_'As I live and breath, CAN THIS DAY GET **ANY** BETTER!?'_ A new sadistic plan in motion, Hazama had barely opened his lips to call out to the commanding officer before he paused. _'No, I should hold these cards close; it's not like he's isn't already burning with hatred for me… I can wait until I find a more fitting time to expose this little tidbit…'_ Even determined as he was to hide this information for now, he couldn't help but chuckle at the facts. _'Adam Taurus, a key leader of the feared Faunus terrorist faction, The White Fang… cucked by a human.'_

He couldn't help himself; he surrendered to impulse and exploded into an unrestricted fit of laughter. While the very sound sent surrounding birds flying and gave shivers to anyone in the camp that heard it, Adam only gave another groan as maniacal howls pierced the very heavens above.

**_Author's Note_**

**_While it's not exactly horror based, I figured that putting a chapter out with a slight darker tone and the promise of some upcoming menace would be well due. I honestly haven't given Adam a lot of screen time (mostly because he'd only shown up in Blake's trailer in this point of the series) so I figured he and Hazama should have a chapter dedicated to them. Just to let you know, I AM trying to figure out a way to slightly rework his character in a way that I think will leave him as a heartless prick… but can at least give him a little justice. Onto the reviews._**

_MeteorElDrago_: Thanks so much, enjoy.

_Wlyman2009_: Sounds like what happened with Goku and Freeza during the last minute of the Tournament of Power… I'll consider it.

_P3R50N4:_ Glad you liked it, it was a rather straightforward idea, so I just decided to run with it.

_SharkSoul_: ...You're not wrong, I was considering the exact same thing myself… this doesn't strike me as a chibi chapter though.

_ArmantusCumPinnae_: More again? ...Anyways, I can't confirm that Heart, Akatsuki, and Yumi would be added in so soon into the adventure, maybe for a Second Arc kinda thing?

_The Unplanner_: Good god, I could just imagine the random stalker type trying to ship them together.

_GrimmjowTaichou_: Hakumen would honestly be too overpowered, and character seems just a little _too_ stoic.

_Fernandamichelleraya_: Well Tsubaki's human too, she's got her faults but I don't think she'd hold a grudge that impossibly long in this setting.

_Pally111_: Here's a future chapter for you.

_BlitzNeutral69_: It might very well be.

_ShadowStrykerX_: As soon as you said that I can up with an idea for it… next time though, this was needed for halloween.

_Slackboy101_: You know, maybe for a gag reel or something.

**_Happy Halloween to everyone! Ciao!_**


	6. Chaotic Airwaves

Requested by ShadowStrykerX (kinda, I'll explain in the author's note later)

_Suggested Reading: Crimson IX Short Stories of A Sanctioned Saturday_

_**Extra 006: Chaotic Airwaves**_

"Uhh…" Ragna drowsily groaned to himself as the knocking on his door continued. Said knocking had roused him from a particularly pleasant slumber. In order to try and balance the chaos in his life, Ragna had made a solemn promise to himself that he would never be seen out of bed before noon on a Saturday, making up as much sleep as he'd no doubt lost throughout the week. Hence, despite the pounding his door growing in intensity, he kept his head down where it was comfortable on his nice soft pillow.

"Get up!" came Tsubaki's shouting from the other side of the door followed by more banging. "You've only got 10 minutes before we're supposed to air!"

"Piss off…" he groaned into his pillow, trying to fall back asleep.

"Get out here now or I'm calling _Goodwitch_!" she threatened. "You're our leader, so you know that we can't do this without you! Either you're up with us now and we all get through this or you'll be mopping until dinner!"

'_She's threatening him with mop duty? That's it?'_ Azrael though on the other side of the door, more than a little doubtful that Ragna would give in so easily. The door then opened, revealing Ragna dressed in the black hakama that he always wore underneath his favored jacket. He had a serious case of bed hair (moreso than usual), his clothes were completely misaligned, and his face made it clear just how drowsy he was. '_And apparently it works…'_

"We still have a little time before we need to start," Noel said nervously, still not used to speaking to her team leader. "Maybe you can take a minute to freshen up first?"

"Just sounds like more work, and here it doesn't even matter what I look like," Ragna responded, covering his mouth as he gave a deep yawn. "I say we get this over with quick so I can head back to bed."

"Just make sure this doesn't completely derail; Ozpin sounded like he was really looking forward to trying this out for the academy so it wouldn't reflect well if we couldn't handle something like this," Tsubaki said, trying to keep Ragna in line. "Do you have the lines ready for us?"

"No lines, but I do have a couple of stories for us to talk about in the studio. Just grab the ones you want to do, use my notes for whatever you want, and add your two bits in at the end. If you want to weigh in on someone else's story, go right ahead."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea; being so freeform is just going to make us look unprofessional," Tsubaki tried to reason.

"Unprofessional? You say that like we're getting paid for this," Azrael told them gruffly, before he actually formed a sharp smile. "Besides, you gotta know how to improvise if you're going to be a _Huntsman_. Might as well show that off now."

"But, I don't have any idea what I should say…" Noel said meekly, easily the one with the biggest stage fright.

"Then just say the first thing that comes into your head; it's what I always do," Ragna advised.

"And that is a serious conversation that we still need to have," Tsubaki scolded, deliver a small chop to the top of the Reaper's head.

"You're just mad that we're missing breakfast today."

_Meanwhile -The School Cafeteria-_

"Mmmm… Cinnamon…" Ruby sighed, blissfully taking a bite of the steaming hot cinnamon bun in her hands. She and the rest of her team were sitting at one of the cafeteria tables, each of them enjoying their own roll. Though obviously, Ruby seemed to be enjoying hers with the most gusto.

"Sis, slow down! It's getting all over you!" Yang tried to protest as he sister's face became covered in the sticky frosting. Ruby only giggled guiltily, her bubbly attitude always making it hard to stay cross with her for long. "Weiss, you mind helping her out with that?"

"Wh-why on earth do I have to wipe her face? You're her sister!" the Schnee demanded as she blushed from the request.

"And you're her partner; doing something like this should be easy with two people with that kind of a bond," Blake added, deciding she'd weigh in on the teasing for once. She also got what they both wanted as the Schnee heir seriously eyed Ruby, already posing for her partner to clean her face. The ploy didn't come to fruition and Weiss merely covered the smiling face with her napkin and left it there. "Cold hearted as always."

"She has hands; she can use them," Weiss scolded, wishing that Ragna was here to be the usual lightning rod for the teasing. Speaking of lightning though...

"Hmm… Hey Ren? My face feels a little sticky, think you can wipe it off?" Nora tried, using the other team's teasing for her own advances. Though Ren gave his usual sigh at her behavior, it didn't stop him from silently agreeing to her request as he wiped Nora's face with his own napkin. The hyperactive mallet user only looked too pleased.

"...Point Nora," Pyrrha Nikos commented with some surprise. Out of the corner of the eye she noticed that Jaune's face was covered in crumbs. She internally debated giving him a helping hand, but decided against it as she knew this might instead hurt his still developing self confidence.

"Interesting… very interesting," Amane Nishki commented as he watched the two teams from a nearby table, watching their chemistry or lack thereof unfold in real time.

"Get rid of whatever it is you're brewing in that head of yours," Jin told him in usual cold tone as he read while he ate.

"Hey hey, no need to snap Jinny," Kagura teased his own team. "What's wrong? You're that upset that Tsubaki isn't here to-?"

"Another word and you're finishing this weekend's assignments ALONE," the Ice user threatened as he took another bite out of his roll and accidentally smudged a little frosting onto his cheek.

"I can get that for you!" Celica tried to offer, only to have her a hand roughly pushed away by Jin's. "Hey!"

"Don't. Just… keep your hands to yourself," he, most of him annoyed… though others painfully nostalgic.

"Where is our dear Tsubaki anyhow?" Amane decided to question as he glanced around the cafeteria. "In fact I don't think there's a member of Team _RAIN_ here. I know your brother and Noel Vermillion are far from early risers, but Azrael can't get into the training room early enough and Tsubaki's always up by the crack of dawn."

"She mentioned something to me about a special assignment from Ozpin last night," Jin explained, only talking now so he could change the topic. "I'd imagine she's busy now working on whatever it was he asked her for."

"And you didn't bother asking her what it was?" Kagura asked as well.

"She told me he'd wanted to keep it a surprise. But what he'd ask her to be so secretive about is beyond-"

Jin didn't have a chance to finish a sentence as the crackle of static echoed across the cafeteria. Silence fell over the room as the student's waited patiently for the loudspeakers, expecting an emergency notice or an announcement of some kind. There was a bit of shuffling on the other end for a few further seconds.

"Can they hear me?" came Ragna's face from the speakers. "We're good? Right." A small cough as he cleared his throat.

**Ragna**: "Alright, let's get started. If you're listening to this now I'm Ragna, the leader of Team _RAIN_ and the sucker they slapped this on."

**Tsubaki (hissing)**: "Don't whine, just read your notes. This is Tsubaki Yayoi. We're here with Azrael… Say hello Azrael."

**Azrael**: "Hmph."

**Tsubaki (groaning)**: "Off to such a great start… Also with us is Noel Vermillion."

**Noel**: "H-hello everyone… It's nice to be speaking to you all."

**Ragna**: "Long story short, this is something that Ozpin-"

**Tsubaki**: "_Professor_ Ozpin."

**Ragna**: "Whatever you want to call him, he's starting up this weekly announcement every Saturday. He's calling it _Student Speaking;_ _put over the airwaves by students, for students_… Really, that's the best name and slogan he could come up with?"

**Tsubaki (annoyed)**: "Ragna!"

**Azrael**: "Big talk, what would you have called this?"

**Ragna**: "I'd have just kept it basic. Maybe _Beacon Academy Radio; Start your Morning with us_."

"...Darn it, that is better," Ozpin admitted as he listened to the program from the comfort of his own office.

**Tsubaki**: "Moving onto the actual news, we have a story about… Ragna!"

**Ragna (defensive)**: "Don't blame me! That's just what's going on!"

**Tsubaki**: "You couldn't have found a better story? Fine. Apparently there have been a few students running around campus, gathering up information on who would be '_Miss Beacon.'_ From what we now understand it's a student driven beauty pageant… Ugh."

**Noel**: "There's a beauty pageant? Why did no one tell me about it? ...Did… did no one want to vote for me?"

**Tsubaki (trying to sympathize)**: "I'm sure that's not the case Noel…"

**Azrael**: "From what I've heard, apparently they were taking a 'boy's only' vote. Hell, even Ragna and I both ended up submitting votes with how constantly they were hounding us."

**Noel**: "You both did? If you don't mind my asking; who did you-?"

**Ragna and Azrael**: "Amane."

"HA HAA~!" the dancer cheered with victory.

**Ragna**: "Just because we got pressured into voting, didn't mean we were going to give a serious answer."

"...It still counts," Amane countered, acting oddly prideful about the affair.

**Tsubaki:** "Riiight. Oh, as a small aside we have a note at the end from Professor Goodwitch. She says that while she appreciates the several votes cast towards her, she hopes that said voters can show... _additional support_ in cleaning duty tonight."

**Ragna**: "Translation: Great going pervs, hope your damn detention was worth it."

**Tsubaki (losing her mind)**: "Ragna!"

"Dammit," Kagura sighed as Jin shot his teammate a look of pure disappointment.

**Noel**: "So did she win?"

**Ragna**: "Hell if I know, no one ever announced the results. Let's just drop it and move onto something else."

**Noel**: "Okay then. I've actually got a community warning handed down to us by the police department. Apparently there have been a number of _Dust_ shop robberies in the area. They're asking any students with possible leads to submit them for aid in the investigation. They also advise that whoever is behind these attacks is likely dangerous and should be left to the authorities… sounds scary."

**Azrael (eager)**: "I hope I run into some of them, I've been dying to sink my teeth into a fresh hunt!"

**Tsubaki**: "You'd destroy an entire block before you caught them!"

**Azrael**: "You're selling me short; I'd be more worried about a city at least!"

**Tsubaki**: "You're just proving my point!"

**Noel**: "Um, do you think Roman Torchwick could be behind this? I remember seeing him on the news a while ago and his main target seemed to be _Dust_ shops."

**Ragna**: "Probably, word has it that he's still on the loose so he's probably the main suspect… Guess if he really is behind this, we'll have to hope that someone's in the right place to finally kick his ass to the curb."

**Tsubaki**: "Watch your language! And the report said to leave this to the authorities!"

**Azrael**: "And he's been on the loose for months. What does that tell you?"

**Tsubaki**: "Azrael!"

**Ragna**: "I think we've already pissed her off enough. Why don't we just move onto Azrael's story?"

**Azrael**: "Fine fine… Wait, can everyone in the school can hear this?"

**Ragna**: "That's the whole point of this project. I don't know why you'd question when we've been-"

**Azrael**: "OUTSTANDING!"

**Noel**: "Oh… oh no."

**Azrael**: "LISTEN UP BEACON ACADEMY! I CAME TO THIS SCHOOL BECAUSE I HEARD IT WAS THE BEST! THAT IT TRAINED THE BEST! BUT ALL I'VE SEEN UP TO THIS POINT ARE COWARDS AND WEAKLINGS THAT WON'T EVEN MAKE A SOLID APPETIZER! IF YOU'RE HALF THE HUNTSMEN OR HUNTRESS THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO BE, YOU WON'T TURN DOWN MY INVITATION TO-! MMMMMMMMMPH!"

**Ragna**: "HOLD HIM DOWN AND KEEP HIM QUIET! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO COVER SPORTS NEWS!"

**Azrael (slightly muffled)**: "THIS IS THE SPORT NEWS! THE ULTIMATE SPORT OF FIGHTING!"

**Tsubaki**: "CHANGE STORY! CHANGE THE STORY! WE'RE STILL LIVE!"

**Noel (terrified):** "Um, I-! F-For dinner tonight, we're having-"

**Azrael**: "BLACK HAAAAAAWK-!"

**Ragna**: "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!"

"_**STINGER!"**_

_Later -Ozpin's Office-_

The headmaster of Beacon Academy had quite since Ragna and the others had entered his office, uncomfortably quiet. He didn't exactly look mad at them, or even disappointed for that matter… but it was clear he was in no position to shower them in praise. Ragna, Noel, and Tsubaki all had tears in their clothing from Azrael's attack while the Mad Dog himself had an obviously painful welt on his check from a counterattack. He didn't look guilty though… in fact it looked like he was still on his high for asking for his fight.

"So…" Ragna slowly began, hoping to end the awkward and strained silence. "...Can I still have my room?"

"Ragna!" Tsubaki hissed at her partner for the upteenth time.

"Our agreement is still intact, so the room is yours," Ozpin explained, though the rest of his team had little idea what the agreement was about. "That said, I think it's clear to me that the four of you will be put on cleaning duty… along with repairing our studio."

"Why should they have to? I'm the one that did it." Again, Azrael didn't sound the slightest bit sorry yet he still had a bizarre sense of fairness underneath all of that muscle.

"You are, but there's an important lesson to be had here. Your blind misuse of your own power will not only land you in trouble, but will also extend to the rest of your team as well. If you won't keep that battle drive in check for yourself, you'll have to learn how to do so for the rest of the team."

"Sounds to me like you just need more help cleaning," Ragna admitted. Tsubaki was about to scold her leader… but decided that she was just wasting her breath. "So this was a bust then?"

"Not so, I actually found the affair entertaining enough. If the collateral hadn't been so high I might've actually been satisfied with the end result."

'_The collateral could've been a lot higher,'_ Noel thought to herself. She knew that if Ragna hadn't managed to hold the brunt of Azrael's attack, more than just the studio would've been destroyed.

"We'll get started on cleaning duty… and for the record, I warned you something like this would happen,. This isn't all on me," Ragna reminded coldly as he exited the office, followed by Azrael. Tsubaki and Noel both gave apologetic bows before following after the boys.

'_I suppose I should hold off on this pet project for a bit, it's a pity though,'_ Oz thought to himself went through a few of the student files. '_Though… who should I pick to host the next radio session?'_

_**Author's Note IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT**_

_**Okay, so I've got an announcement along with the explanation about the chapter. The main reason why this extra was so short was because… this wasn't the real chapter at all. It's rather a short little bit of filler before I get to the chapter proper.**_

_**So the main idea of this was a take on BlazBlue Radio, but it would be hard to do this without having you, yes YOU the fans, contributing to this with some comments. Let me explain.**_

_**To explain, the next chapter I put out will basically be a full section based response to the reviews you send me in the next one. Anyone who's read Azure Guilt will remember that I did something similar with this. The difference here is that it's not the same characters that will respond every time. It's not just questions either, if you have a funny skit I can pull off or a simple challenge (like an egg throwing contest).**_

_**The character theme for the next chapter will be: TEAM LEADERS.**_

_**Meaning the chapter's hosts will be Ragna, Ruby, Jin, and Jaune. Their attitude and mentality will be the same as the**_

_**I do have a few conditions for the questions that I'll be answering. If any of the questions ask any of these things I will reserve my right to not answer them for the following reasons.**_

Shipping questions: This one is pretty simple. It'd ruin the story focus, set up for some spoilers down the road, and make the whole thing a pretty awkward. That doesn't mean you can't ask about two people spending time together (i.e. Ragna and Ruby training, Jaune and Pyrrha dancing. Both are still on the table)

Story spoilers: Same reason as above, these things might not be canon, but it still might give the reader's some whiplash if Ragna talk trash about Cinder here and then we go back to the story proper where she hasn't done anything yet.

Power scaling and Feats: ...Look, I understand that people like Death Battle but I'm not here to compare powers or anything like that. This is just a fun idea that I'd rather not have any debates spawn from.

**Other than that, let me know what you want to hear about. If this goes well I might start making this a special event at the start of every year. First one should be up a bit after new years, so look forward to that one. Let's see some review responses now.**

_BloodedgetheReaper2113_: Oof… You'll have to wait and see what will come of this. I'm not really the type to make character bashing stories I'm afraid… unless the character is specifically created to get shit on. (Think Kibaou from my Sword Art Online story)

_P3R50N4: _Terumi is a popular character, but I need to use him sparingly… at least for now.

_Pally111_: Life… say no more.

_The Unplanner_: Making Adam sympathetic is a difficult thing to do, especially on accident. And yeah… last chapter was technically canon.

Trey Alexander: Trust me, I dearly hope to give Adam much more development than what he got in the main series. I'm just not sure what direction I find the most appealing at the moment.

_Wlyman2009_: DC? ...Did you not like _Joker_? I mean that's fine and all, but that seemed to come out of nowhere.

_**Until next time! Ciao and Happy Holidays!**_


	7. Grimm Blue Radio 2020

Requested by ShadowStrykerX

_Suggested Reading: None this time. Enjoy!_

_**Extra 007: Grimm Blue Radio 2020**_

"Everyone ready for this?" a cynical red Reaper asked the three others with him as they gathered onto the set.

"More than ready! I could barely sleep a wink last night!" a young lady responded to him excitedly with sparkles in her eyes.

"Hmph, that figures. Just make sure you don't make a fool of us and fall asleep during production," a young blond dressed in blue ordered, carrying a blue-sheathed katana onto the set.

"Are you sure you can bring your weapon here?" a second blond asked nervously, this one dressed in a dark hoodie underneath white armor. "Maybe it'd be better if you left it back in the-"

"Just try to take it from me," its owner threatened, holding the blade up and threatening to unsheath it.

"You ass. Can't even wait until we get on stage to start making threats?" the first man said, growling at his younger sibling.

"If you're going to take issue brother, then maybe we should skip the formalities." A hand now resting on the katana's grip, a chilly mist starts to emanate from the blade as it is slowly unsheathed.

"NO FIGHTING UNTIL WE PERFORM!" the young girl demands, stomping her foot on the ground. "I was barely in the last few chapters! You two need either get along or get off of the stage!"

"...Someone's oddly into it," the older Reaper decided before looking to his brother. "Truce?"

"For now," he silently agreed, fully sealing the dangerous blade once more. "Are we ready?"

"Signs say we're about to go live in three… two... …. …"

(Lights suddenly flicker on, revealing a small set made up of four chairs in a small arc around a small table. There are two red ones in the center, a blue one on the left side, and a yellow one on the right. Behind the set is a bright neon sign with the show's title)

**Everyone:** "_GRIMM BLUE RADIO!"_

(The hosts then take their color coordinated seating as the accompanying music, _Rebellion II,_ starts to play. Ragna then takes the papers laid out in front of his seat, grabs out a set of reading glasses which were honestly just there to complete his appearance of a host)

**Ragna**: "Thanks for joining us for our first debut of this side program. Before we get to the show proper, I've actually got a note from the author thanking everyone for making his _Grimm Reaper_ series what it is today."

**Ruby**: "That's right! At the time of posting this, the main story has finally hit the _Four Hundred Favorite_ milestone! So from all of the cast, we'd like to thank you for tuning in regularly for these stories!"

**Jaune**: "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but hopefully I start to get a little more screen time in the upcoming chapters. I think I was more of a side character that entire first season…"

**Jin (scoffing)**: "Oh? You mean like in RWBY proper?"

**Ragna**: "Dick move Jin, dick move…"

**Ruby**: "I wouldn't be so worried about that, I think we're going to have a couple of story points set up for you the next season. Who knows, you might even get an earlier semblance unlock, maybe even a different and stronger semblance to boot!"

**Ragna**: "Maybe, but that's not what we're here to talk about. We've gotten just a few fan requests from the last chapter posted. I guess it's understandable since we're just starting out, but let's get going on the subject. Going in no particular order, we're starting off with a question from _P3R50N4_ that asks the four of us what our Team Name would be."

**Ruby (jumping in her seat)**: "Oh! Oh! I've got this one! I've been coming up with ideas ever since I found out that we were hosting together!"

**Jaune**: "You… you have? But wouldn't it be difficult since we're just two R's and two J's?"

**Ruby**: "Normally it would be, but I've decided that we'll be able to use last names for our new team name! I'd have to use and R either way, but we can get a B from Ragna's title of _Bloodedge_, a K from Jin Kisaragi, and an A from Jaune Arc. This makes us… TEAM _BARK_!"

**Jin**: "...She can't be serious… Oh god, she is."

**Jaune**: "Team _BARK?_ You mean like the sound a dog would make?"

**Ruby (smiling)**: "Sure! Either that or the stuff you'd find on the outside of a tree, but let's go with your idea!"

**Ragna**: "Sorry Rubes, but I don't think anyone's going to treat us seriously if we end up calling ourselves that. Maybe switch around the A and the R? We can go as Team _BRAK_ (Break)?"

**Ruby (tearful eyes)**: "But… Dogs…"

**Jin**: "Brother, move on or she'll use her eyes and convince you to have us sound like bootleg Pokemon gang."

**Jaune**: "After Team YELL, I don't know how bootleg we'd be able to get. They might actually use that idea for the next region and create a Team _MEOW_ for the companion version."

**Jin**: "Touche."

**Ragna (adjusting his glasses)**: "Right, let's see here… This next one's from _EpicLinkSam_ and it's… oh. Another character comparison questionnaire for me, let's see. First up is Dante…"

**Jaune**: "I don't think there's much to say, everyone and their mother already compares the two of you to each other, Jin with Vergil… what about Noel and Lady/Trish?"

**Jin**: "Not that last one, as far as I'm aware."

**Ragna**: "Next is Vash the Stampede… I dunno, that one seems like kind of a stretch. I mean we both have red jackets, but we don't look or act anything alike. Red coat only is taking it a little far."

**Ruby**: "You mean the _LOVE AND PEACE!_ guy from TriGun? ...Yeah, you're much more violent than he is."

**Ragna**: "Clearly… Cloud Strife. Giant swords, spiky hair… I guess the only reason I'm compared to him more frequently is because of how iconic he is."

**Jin**: "...I wasn't going to say anything, but even I'll admit I'm excited for his remake in March."

**Jaune**: "For sure!"

**Ruby**: "Of course!"

**Ragna**: "I already pre-ordered my copy, even comes out on my birthday. The next comparison is Gintoki and the answer is an obvious yes, especially if you listen to the Gag reels from my game in Japanese."

**Jaune**: "Also one of your Alt colors is a clear reference to him."

**Ragna**: "That too. Guts from _Berserk_, same as Cloud above. Sol Badguy… I mean he is my ArcSys predecessor; he and I are going to share some connections one way or another. Last up is Velvet Crowe. This one's actually a little interesting because up until this point I've been newer than all of the characters on this list. Here though, Velvet's the fresher blood."

**Jaune**: "So you're saying that she's the one being compared to you?"

**Jin**: "Have you SEEN her arm? I'm honestly surprised they didn't go all in and have her perform _Darkness Consume You_."

**Ruby**: "I haven't seen whoever that is at all, I'm still only halfway though _Tales of Zestiria._"

**Ragna**: "Finish that first, THEN play _Tales of Berseria_. Trust me, it makes the entire experience so much better (especially since they fixed the upgrade system). We're done with the character comparisons, but _EpicLinkSam_ still has a request for Jin and I to-"

**Jin**: "I'm ready when you are."

**Jaune**: "But he didn't even say what you're doing."

**Jin**: "There's only one thing that he'd ask the two of us to do. I only hope that my dear brother is still up to form."

**Ruby**: "Are you guys going for dramatic or cheesy here?"

**Ragna**: "Dramatic, always dramatic."

(The lights around the studio suddenly go off, encasing the entire area in a deep darkness. A single spotlight shines down upon Jin, guiding him as he runs onto the set. Coming to a stop near the center, he looks up with a snarl at the figure lounging laxly against a large throne.)

**Jin**: "DIE MONSTER! YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD!"

**Ragna** **(still hidden in the shadows)**: "It was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was called here by HUMANS, who wish to pay me tribute."

**Jin**: "Tribute?! You steal men's souls and make them your slaves!"

**Ragna (smirking as a haunting black aura glows around his right hand)**: "Perhaps the same could be said of all religions…"

**Jin (swiping his hand to the side in disgust)**: "Your words are as empty as your soul! Mankind ill needs a savior such as you!"

**Ragna:** "WHAT IS A MAN!?"

(As the Reaper violently rises to his feet, a spot light finally shines down and fully reveals him. With his regular red coat gone, he now wears a brilliant blood red cape and that reaches down to his ankles. He's holding a glass of red wine in his left. His expression is of someone this is truly disgusted by all that mankind has done.)

**Ragna**: "A miserable little pile of secrets. But enough talk…"

(He tosses the wine glass to the side, causing it to shatter and spill everywhere.)

**Ragna**: "HAVE AT YOU!"

(The spotlights then go dark, encasing the stage in darkness once more. When the light fully returns, Ragna and Jin are both standing behind their seats and giving bows for their performance. Ruby and Jaune are both applauding and continue to do so until the two are seated)

**Ruby**: "Never knew the two of you could act."

**Jaune**: "So do you guys practice those lines regularly or do inherently know them because you have the same VA's?"

**Ragna**: "Both really. Took me a little practice to finally get that whole _Dracula_ role down. That's all from _Sam_, so I think it's time to move onto the next request. This one's for Ruby; _The Unplanner_ asks if you've given any thought about adding another weapon in the event that you ever get disarmed. They're suggestion is a form of a pistol/shuriken that can either bounce off of Weiss's Glyphs or be a shared weapon between you and Blake."

**Ruby**: "Hiya _Unplanner!_ That's a really awesome suggestion you've got there and you know what they say; the more weapons the better! I should totally get to work on some new designs and-!"

**Jin**: "Even if you carried an army's worth of weapons with you, it still wouldn't do anything to fix the issue you've got. If you're completely vulnerable, even in the split second it takes you to draw another weapon, the enemy will quickly see to capitalize when that happens and strike you down."

**Ruby**: "...Are you insulting me, warning me, or just trying to give me advice?"

**Jin**: "All three; no matter how good you are with a weapon or how many of them you carry, that's a weakness you'll have to cover eventually…"

(Ragna then actually feels a chill creeping down his spine as he notices look Jin's sending his way)

**Jin**: "As luck would have it, I hear we have someone here who's a master at both unarmed combat… and teaching."

**Jaune (remembering his 'training' with Ragna)**: "Ruby… it was nice knowing you."

**Ruby (nervous)**: "Eh?"

**Ragna**: "Hmm, maybe if it comes to that… Either way, it's going to be a while until we get to an 'upgrade point' for weapons or armor, probably better just to let fighting skills speak for themselves in the story for now."

**Ruby**: "But to answer the question asked, YES. I would love to add a new weapon… or if Ragna wants to trade again for a bit..."

**Ragna**: "Let's just move on. Our next letter is for Jaune and… oh, this actually ties into training."

**Jaune (pleading in his mind)**: (Please no.)

**Ragna**: "He's asking about the training that you went through with your team during Chapter 15 and if they were really all that sadistic while they were doing it."

**Jaune**: "Oh that. I mean, I wouldn't exactly call it sadistic… I reserve that word for what Ragna did for training."

**Jin**: "You mean the training that gave you the biggest power boost in the series thus far?"

**Jaune (angry)**: "The ends don't justify the means!"

**Ragna (considering)**: "Huh, so this is what my master kept seeing…"

**Jin**: "It's better to just move on with the question, how was your training with the rest of Team _JNPR_?"

**Jaune**: "It depends what part they were asking about. Combat form training? Good and I feel like I learned a lot from Pyrrah. Stretching with Amane had my body feeling like it was going to snap. Sparring with the entire was actually kinda fun despite how out of breath it left, even with how frustrated Nora was that she couldn't get through my defence. Then she decided to bring in Azrael and… I stopped having fun."

**Ruby**: "How did you survive that?"

**Jaune (bewildered)**: "I DON'T KNOW! He kept rushing at me shouting that he'd tear the flesh from my bones and I just kept running and dodging! It was working so I kept doing it! ...After a while, I think he started to stop caring out of sheer disappointment."

**Ragna** **(internal)**: (Should probably let him know that Nora and Pyrrah came up with the idea to bring him in for sprinting exercise) "I mean you got trained either way, and the last chapter even I trained you for a bit. Maybe this Season you'll be able to bust out in a couple of kick ass scenes."

**Jaune**: "I'll have to pull a couple of those out if I'm going to help my team to qualify for the _Vytal Festival_. That wouldn't speak well of us if my team doesn't even make to the first round while we have an unbeatable powerhouse like Phyrra Nickos on our side."

**Jin**: "You'll have several pairs of eyes on you, putting further pressure to perform well… I wish you luck with your effort."

**Ruby**: "Did Jin just say something nice?"

**Jin**: "Shut your mouth, woman."

**Ruby**: "There we go!"

**Ragna (annoyed groan)**: "Quit it you two, else I'm moving on without you. The next review comes from _Unknown Calamity_ and they're got a request for Jin. They're asking that you make the best shaved ice that we've ever had and… apparently they're insisting that you have to use Yukianesa."

**Jin**: "...Is that right?"

(The Kisaragi heir has a cocky smirk upon his face as he rises to his feet, grabbing Yukianesa from its resting place against his seat. Moving past the table, he shoots a look to Jaune)

**Jin**: "And you said I shouldn't have brought this."

(Fully unsheathing the crystalline blade, a thick frost seems to cover the entire room. From the center to the room a giant icicle seems to rip up from the floor. To the naked and untrained eye, Jin doesn't even appear to flinch before slowly resheathing his blade yet once he finishes, countles cuts appears around the giant slab of ice causing it to shatter into pieces, barely the size of hail. Not all pieces were cut so finely as in the center of the icy explosion there were four goblets also made out of ice. Jin rushed head first into the self created snow storm, dancing fluidly as the dodge each and every piece of ice and grabbed the goblets. Spinning gracefully, he gathered all of the ice into each of their holders before throwing them to the table where they landed dead in front of each announcer seat. The tip of the icicle had been saved to create the spoons for his treat, so quickly snagging those out of the air he threw them to where they impaled himself inside the icebowls he'd created)

**Ragna (exasperated smile)**: "Dammit, he's always gotta show his shit whenever there's ice involved."

**Jaune**: "Not to say that wasn't totally awesome, but aren't you forgetting something? You didn't add in any of that syrupy flavors that makes a snow cone what it is. Can your sword already flavor the ice when you create it?"

**Jin**: "Pfft. First off, those syrups are already the same flavor…"

**Ruby**: "Wow, someone's played _Persona 5_."

**Jin** **(scathing glare as he takes his seat)**: "SECOND… I think you'll find that adding those disgusting non-natural sugars won't be required for ice this well made. See for yourselves."

(A bit reluctant at first, each of the three takes a hold of the ice spoons, surprised that while its indeed cool to the touch, it doesn't seem painful or even possible of causing frostbite. Taking an actual bite of Jin's creation leaves them awestruck)

**Jaune**: "This… This can't just be ice! **(goes for a second taste) **And yet somehow it has to be! **(a third)** There's nothing giving it any hint of flavor or sweetness, but somehow every bite is such a surge of refreshment that it's completely overwhelming!"

**Ragna**: "The shape and texture of this is perfect as well. The shards aren't too big that you have to force yourself to crunch them all at once, though they're not so thin that you're biting through mush. There's a collection of crackles every time you take a bite!"

**Ruby**: "He even managed to make the whole thing the perfect temperature! If hadn't made it cold enough this would have already started to melt, but the way he froze it I feel like I could eat this all day and not get a hint of brain freeze!"

(Though he's yet to take a bite of his own creation, it's impossible not to see how proud of his own work Jin is right now as the other three can't slow themselves from partaking in the shaved ice masterpiece he's created. If only he used his cryokinesis for culinary creation instead of suicidal destruction.)

**Ruby**: "So just to make sure, no one's going to start moaning uncontrollably as their clothes get torn off, are they?"

**Jin**: "Wow, someone's watched _Shokugeki no Soma_."

**(Author's Note: WEAR HEADPHONES)**

**Ragna**: "Alright, I'd say that Jin managed to deliver and then some. Let's move onto the next and from what I can tell the final letter we were sent. This one's for all of us from _darkhound115_ and it's to describe the best and worst parts about each of our teammates and also who out of them would make the best replacement for leader."

**Jaune**: "That's… kind of personal."

**Jin**: "What does it matter? They'll never hear of this."

**Ruby**: "That kinda makes it worse actually."

**Ragna**: "In that case I'll be the one to start us off, all cards on the table. For my partner Tsubaki, the best part of her clearly has to be her drive. She's committed to goals no matter what obstacle gets in her way. Problem is that her downside hits that good side of her a little too hard; since she's so focused it can feel like she has a lot of trouble seeing the bigger picture. She'd obviously be my first pick for a replacement Team leader, but that bigger picture part would worry me."

**Jin**: "Then it would be up to you and your other teammates to give her proper guidance in those other areas, wouldn't it?"

**Jaune**: "You're right, clearly… but wouldn't she still have final say? I feel like that could still cause some issues. Might be better to keep things where they are after all, Ragna's sort of the type that goes with the flow more easily."

**Jin**: "Hmph, when it suits my brother at least."

**Ragna**: "Speaking of going with the flow, there's our local _Mad Dog_. I actually almost admire how laid back he is most of the time. There's not a whole lot can upset him or even throw him for a loop… he's pretty chill honestly."

**Ruby**: "Ragna, you're not allowed to lie."

**Ragna**: "Moving onto the downside, I'M one of those few things that really sets him off. Meaning that when he's around me and there's the slightest chance of us fighting, it's like a shark smelling blood in the water. Once he catches wind of fighting, not much can actually calm him down."

**Ruby**: "...That makes sense, too much sense."

**Ragna**: "And then we've got Noel… I mean, she's nice… I guess? Didn't really talk with her much the first Season. The best thing I can say about her for sure is that she's actually the best gun user at the academy. Her firearms might not transform into melee weapons like everyone else's, but she makes every bullet count. Downside… timidness, end of story."

**Jaune**: "You sound like you really don't want to-"

**Jin**: "He said his piece, we move on. Woman, it's your turn."

**Ruby**: "To start with, Weiss is a lot like Tsubaki in that she's a hard worker. She's got a lot of pride on the line and that's always going to push her to be the best that she can be. It can always make things a bit competitive with her, but that can make things fun for everyone!"

**Ragna**: "Fun… right."

**Ruby**: "Come on, you know it's fun too! As for her downside… she's nicknamed _Ice Queen_ for a reason. She's great when you get to know her, but a lot of her first impressions have made it tricky for people to get to a second impression stage. Kinda blew up at me when we first met."

**Jin**: "I was there when you both undocked, if I recall correctly you blew _HER_ up."

**Ruby**: "Only in the literal sense!"

**Jaune**: "That's so much worse."

**Ruby**: "Blake's a really cool cat if you'll pardon the pun… Wait, am I allowed to say that?"

**Ragna**: "I wanna say… maybe? I know someone who'd beat my ass for saying it, but that might just be him."

**Ruby**: "Either way she's the calm and collected one of our group, she seems to move both fast and carefully while her weapon can deal some serious damage! The only problem is that it feels like she's still really recluse. She's managed to open up a lot since she came to _Beacon_, but it still feels like she's holding a lot from us."

**Jin**: "Which can easily be applied to someone else sitting here."

**Ragna**: "Bug off Jin."

**Jin (readying Yukianesa)**: "What don't you try to stop me?"

**Ragna**: "NO! AND KEEP IT IN YOUR GODDAMN PANTS!"

**Jaune**: "Is this how siblings act with each other?"

**Ruby**: "Not with Yang and I we get along great as sisters. There's not a lot that I can say without coming off as biased with sisterly love, but Yang's just always there for you. She's always got you back, won't let you down, and faces everything with a smile one her face! ...The problem is she's a little hotheaded. There isn't much that she'll use to handle a situation besides her brute force. That can make things a little tough for the rest of us to follow… and sometimes I just get worried that eventually she's going to hit a wall."

**Jaune**: "That sounds like her to a T. So who do you think would be the best partner if for some reason you couldn't hold onto the job?"

**Ruby**: "I think each of my teammates have both good and… not so good for differing reasons, but I think I would probably end up giving it to Weiss only because she's the one that would actually want to be the leader."

**Ragna (scoffing)**: "Hah! I wonder how long before she'd start insisting that her team dons clothes with _Schnee Dust Corporation_ logos branded across them?"

**Ruby**: "She wouldn't do that! ...Now… Maybe an accessory or two?"

**Jin** **(silent contemplation)**: (Given recent events, I doubt that she'd want much to do with her father… even if she is the heiress to that company.) "Shall we move on?"

**Ragna**: "Go right ahead, you're next. And if I'm remembering right, your team isn't put together much better than mine. What's their leader got to say about that?"

**Jin**: "Our team functions just fine, _brother_. In fact my own partner Celica's ability to heal could prove to be invaluable… even if she's only needed to use it to heal a few scrapes and bumps after a sparring match thus far. The obvious downside is that she's unable to contribute any other way, meaning she'll be more of a liability until need her."

**Jaune**: "So for the festival?"

**Jin**: "After we get through our team rounds, she's the easiest bench. As for Amane, he might seem a bit odd in the head at times, but he somehow knows more about what's going on than he lets on. The thing that's tough to get around is that he's far too playful. There have been several mock battles that he could've won with a little more effort, but he simply threw in the towel and thanked the participants for their 'dance'."

**Ruby**: "He didn't do that for me."

**Jin**: "Then you were too fun for him to tease."

**Ragna**: "He's something alright, but he's at least better than the pervert he's partnered with."

**Jin**: "You actually don't give Kagura enough credit; once you've gotten past those few annoying qualities of his, what do you have? A skilled, powerful warrior, and a natural born leader. Had I not been shackled with this burden of leadership, I'd quickly give it to him."

**Ruby**: "I'm already really surprised that you're giving him this kind of praise, but you don't even want to be a team leader?"

**Jin**: "I'm the type that prefers to lead by action and example, not by orders… though I certainly have training in that certain field."

**Ragna**: "What's Jin's trying to tell you in so many words is that he's actually a pretty big show off, despite trying to stay stoic. Last up is you Jaune, what've you got to say about your team?"

**Jaune**: "Not a lot needs to be said about Nora; she's energetic, she's hyper, and she only ever goes a full 100… that's both an advantage and a disadvantage."

**Ragna**: "That sounds exactly like Tao…"

**Jaune**: "Who?"

**Ruby**: "You'll meet her next season… if she hasn't already run off. What about Pyr-?"

**Jaune**: "Ren's got the silent and cool thing going, but there's also a lot more to him than just that. He's awesome in a fight, does a lot in our group projects, and can even manage to reign Nora in with some success. His downside is kinda weird though… can anyone read that guy?"

**Ragna**: "Not even a little, and people say that I'm the closest friend he has aside from Nora. Last person we'll have to talk about today is Phyrra Nikos. You've probably got a lot to say about her."

**Jaune**: "Honestly what can't I say about her? She's kind, intelligent, and she has a great sense of humor. She's completely confident in her abilities and it really shows when she fights. All her movements seem so flawless."

**Jin**: "Hmph, so how large is the shrine you've made for her?"

**Jaune (flushed)**: "I-! I haven't made-! What makes you think I-!"

**Ragna**: "Calm down Jaune, he's just being an ass as usual."

**Jin**: "You're no saint either, brother."

**Ruby**: "But with all that good stuff you have to say about her, it's probably hard to pick out a downside."

**Jaune**: "I… I actually have one in mind… it's really stupid though. It's… it's the fact that ever since we were assigned partners, she seems to think the world of me."

**Ragna**: "I don't follow, how is that a downside?"

**Jaune**: "Because it puts a lot more pressure on me; she's basically giving me unconditional praise and and team loyalty. If I'd earned it that would've been one thing… but now it feels like I've gotta start making some drastic improvements, otherwise I'm disappointing someone who's giving me the chance no one else would."

**Jin**: "You do realize that you're already contributing more to your team than just combat, don't you?"

**Jaune**: "I am?"

**Jin**: "Think. Whenever you've had your team watching your back, the tactics that you've chosen to employ have successful without fail. Perhaps you haven't been able to contribute much to said strategic moves, but you have everyone in the right place to work effectively as a team."

**Ragna**: "Whoa, Jin…"

**Jin (scowl)**: "What?"

**Ragna**: "Nothing, just… that's the nicest I think I've ever seen you be to someone."

**Jin**: "You're mocking me."

**Ragna**: "No, I'm honestly not. It was really refreshing to see for a change."

**Jaune**: "Thanks… I'll keep trying my best with what I've got. But I still want to get stronger on my own."

**Jin**: "I never said you couldn't… idiot."

**Ruby (whispering to Ragna)**: "Is he just being a Tsundere?"

**Ragna**: "More than a little likely. But with all that said and done that was our last question of the segment."

**Jaune**: "So we're done here?"

**Ruby**: "Looks like it. Thanks for coming on Jaune! You as well Jin!"

**Jin**: "You say that like we were the guests."

**Ragna**: "In a way you kinda are. While this selected group included all four of us, Ruby and I are going to be the permanent hosts for this whenever these events pop up again. Just so that we have someone that can keep things moving along."

**Ruby**: "That and because Ragna can add snarky commentary."

**Ragna**: "That too, but it's time for the four of us to sign off. We've got an end of year party to be getting to, so until next time…"

**Everyone**: "HAPPY 2020 FROM _GRIMM BLUE RADIO!_"

_Author's Note:_

_Well, I certainly had fun writing this. It's been a while since I've written one of these Q&A esque stories so it was pleasant to come back to. I won't be doing another of these for quite a while, so be sure to stay tuned for when the next one hits._

_Not that the end of the year is over (FINALLY) I'm back on a much more manageable work schedule. Updates are going to start coming out at a much more natural pace and hopefully I can start making them a little longer to boot. I've a big chapter planned for this story on Valentines day, so be sure to check in for that one._

_Let's go over the reviews that weren't questions or skit prompts._

_Mugen7_: Ugna Paradise… are you thinking it should be another of the _Island_ series?

_Wlyman2009_: Ah, I see. Don't really read the comics myself.

_Darkpitt65_: Sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to change the team around. I can still try to have Azrael included in the plot.

Guest: I would update _Azure Guilt,_ in fact I have a chapter in the works… but with _Strive_ coming out I wanted to wait to see what it gives to the canon.

_Fernandamichelleraya_: Thanks, here's the real 'radio' experience for you.

_**ENJOY 2020! Ciao!**_


	8. Doctor's Orders

_Suggested Readings are __Crimson XVI: Off Time_

_**Extra 008: Doctor's Orders**_

"Dang it, where is it?" the rabbit Faunus, Velvet Scarlatina, groaned to herself as she walked down the halls of _Beacon_ Academy. "I've been through the classrooms and the teacher's offices twice now, and this is the last one to deliver." The small parcel in her arms wasn't very large nor was it very heavy, but it had _Fragile_ written across the top of it which was more than slightly nerve wracking. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

"Sounds like someone's having a rough start to the day. Aren't you supposed to be enjoying your vacation?" Even if Velvet hadn't spent an entire day shopping with him yesterday, it would be next to impossible not to tell when Ragna was speaking due to the impact he carried (words or otherwise). The apparent _Grimm Reaper_ wasn't wearing any of the articles of clothing that he bought with her the day prior, letting Velvet know that he was going to be as stubborn about his wardrobe as anything else. Currently he was only wearing his black hamaka set, his clothes looking shifted and messy on him while his usual bed hair was worse than normal. Giving a grunt, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Morning."

"...Ragna, it's four in the afternoon," Velvet informed, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Yeah, and I'm on break so I'm trying to catch up on sleep since finals," he told her, clearly fighting back a yawn. "So what's up with you? It sounds like you're in a bind."

"N-No… well maybe," she admitted. "Do you know who Doctor Faye-Ling is?"

"Yeah, I've met her," he told her, leading Velvet to give a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, I've been searching for her office all morning and I haven't the slightest idea where it is. Goodwitch and the rest of the teachers are either out or in meeting for the next term so I didn't have anyone I could turn to. I even headed to check all of the classrooms and I didn't find any that belonged to her. I was going to head to the teacher's quarters, but I know students aren't usually allowed there."

"And that's your problem; wrong type of doctor… I think." Ragna wasn't entirely sure how far Litchi's credentials went himself. "As far as I can tell she's not going to be a teacher here, we only brought her on a couple of weeks ago as a new medical professional at the Academy. If you head to the nurse's office-"

"I'll be able to give her the package there," she realized. Ragna gave a short chuckle as Velvet sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, I was getting worried that I wouldn't be able to deliver this. I get the feeling it's something important." She gave Ragna her best smile. "You really helped me out of a bind, that's one more I owe you."

"Don't worry about it; I'm not really in any mood to collect," he told her with a casual shrug. "Though… maybe you can tell me how you got stuck with this job?"

"How I got… stuck with it?" she asked, having no idea what he was talking about.

"You don't have to tell me if it was something really bad, I was just sorta curious how you managed to piss Goodwitch off. You don't really seem like the sort of person that would try something like that. Was it some kinda accident? Wrong place at the wrong time?"

"No, it was nothing like that," the rabbit fanus explained. "I'm delivering packages today because I volunteered to do it while everyone was on break. Other students either volunteer like me or are assigned to help with chores around the campus by a responsibilities list."

"O-Oh, so that's how that works," Ragna realized, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Ragna, you didn't really go through an entire quarter thinking everyone helping out around campus was forced to work because they got into trouble with Goodwitch, did you?"

"I mean…" The Reaper sighed. "I might have." Velvet did say anything further to him, only shaking her head as she headed off to deliver the package to the new Academy doctor. '_Damn, maybe I should've just asked to pet her ears and saved myself the trouble,'_ he thought before reconsidering. '_Nah, Blake probably would've slapped me when she found out.'_

_Later -Doctor's Office-_

"Hello, Doctor Faye-Ling?" Velvet asked, knocking on the doctor's door. "I have a package here for you! Hello? Doctor?"

Just as Velvet thought she'd come to the end in both her search and her duties, another problem appeared to rear it ugly face. Now she knew that she could have easily left the box outside the office door, but with _Fragile_ marked clearly on top of it she knew that she'd be in trouble should anything happen to it. There was no telling when Litchi was going to be back, so she was stuck with a difficult choice.

'_I guess I could try bringing this back later,'_ she thought before shaking her head. '_No, Goodwitch wanted to make sure everyone had their packages by the end of the day. Maybe I could try to find Goodwitch and just drop it off with her? But then she'd probably be in the meeting herself. What to do...'_

Just for the sake of trying, the Rabbit Faunus attempted to turn the door handle. To her surprise, the door into the nurse's office hadn't been locked before Litchi left. Telling herself this was going to be a quick in and out just to drop off the package, she entered and switched the lights on. There was a half full mug of cold green tea on the desk, letting her know that the doctor had likely forgotten to lock the door after leaving in a hurry. Sticking to her plan, she headed over to the desk and set the parcel down. She was about to head off, but she caught sight at some of the pictures and couldn't help but taking a look with her Photography obsession.

The first photo was of a younger girl with darker skin wearing a child's swimsuit. She was splashing around happily, laughing as she ran through a low wading pool. The second photo was of the same young girl only now she was wearing what appeared to be a young grade school uniform, smiling proudly as her hands held onto her backpack straps. The third was again of the girl, again a little older. She was carrying what appeared to be a box of medical supplies and instead of a bright and childish smile, she was smirking proudly at her duties. The fourth and final picture had the girl in it as well, but there were also two other people. One was the woman that she'd assume was Doctor Faye-Ling while the other rugged man appeared to be her husband. She and her husband were both wearing tradition _Haven_ wedding attire, showing that they'd gotten married after she'd already had a daughter. While the rugged man and Litchi had one of their arms around the other's waist, their other arms was put lovingly on their daughter's shoulders, all three faces beaming with happiness.

"I've always loved looking at that photo. A lot happened that day and my husband was even louder than normal, but it was the day we officially became a family."

"It's a really great pict-" Velvet had been about to compliment the photo, before realizing she'd been spoken to. Like a rabbit realizing an incoming treat, she quickly whipped around to see Doctor Faye-Ling standing behind her. That was the least of her troubles as she'd accidentally slammed her arm into the package and knocked it off the table. Realization came too late as she watched the package fall, her eyes growing wide as approached the floor in slow motion. She prayed that whatever was inside could survive the impact.

_**CRACK!**_

...It didn't.

"Oh? What was in there?" Litchi asked as she leaned down and picked up the box. "_Fragile_… oh dear." She then looked at Velvet and saw that the poor _Faunus_ was shaking, her eyes still on the box and tears forming in her eyes. "Miss, are you all right?"

"I… I'M SO SORRY!" Velvet shouted, bowing her head as low as she could. "I-I didn't mean to break that! I'm sure it meant a lot to you!"

"I-I have no idea what was in here!" Litchi told her quickly, trying to calm her down. Trying to give her best smile, she began to fiddle with the box. "Here, let's see if the damage sounded worse than it actually… is."

Hearing the strained pause in her voice, Velvet look up at the object and her complexion managed to worsen. The contents of the box was a small incense vase recently broken into six rough pieces. To make matters worse that was a small note beside it that read

'_Hope you like this decoration for you new office mom!_

_Love, Linhua'_

Velvet buried her face deep within her palms trying to fight back tears for what she'd just done. Litchi sighed as she closed the box and put it back on her desk. Giving a soft smile, she looked at the young lady like a mother would.

"Would like a cup of tea, dear? Do you think that might help you relax?" As Velvet's slowly showed her face from behind her hands, Litchi continued to remain supportive. "I happen to have great set with me, brought straight from _Haven's_ finest. It was actually an anniversary gift from my husband."

"B-But I-"

"Oh hush; we both know that you didn't mean to break anything and even if you did I'm sure that _Goodwitch_ would be more than happy to repair it for me. And as for the tea, my husband would love nothing more than to know that I was giving a cup to someone that needed it. He's quite the heroic type you know."

"A… all right," Velvet agreed, her muscles seeming to give out all at once as she sagged to the floor.

"I should probably give you the herbal mix; the last thing you need right now is caffeine."

It wasn't long later before both Velvet and Litchi had taken a seat and each had a steaming mug of tea in front of them. While Velvet hadn't said a word, Litchi had been telling stories of her life in _Haven_ and even telling a few stories about her daughter and the man that eventually became her husband.

"Velvet was it? Drink some tea," she said after a moment, taking a sip of her own to show that it was cool enough. "Doctor's orders."

"O-okay," Velvet said before taking the smallest of sips from her mug. Once she'd gotten a taste though she couldn't stop herself and quickly downed the entire thing, letting the drink's warmth spread throughout her body.

"Better?" Litchi asked. Velvet's face turned crimson at her actions, but nonetheless she nodded. "I'm happy to hear. You looked like a ghost after that parcel dropped."

"I-I'm fine now," she assured trying to get the courage up. "Misses- I mean _Doctor_ Faye-Ling?"

"Please, you can just call me Litchi; we're all friends here dear," the older woman insisted.

"P… PLEASE LET ME FIND SOME WAY TO MAKE THIS UP TO YOU!" she demanded, falling to her knees and going into a Dogeza bow (that one where you're on your knees and put your head to the ground).

"Please Velvet, you're overreacting. I already told you that I can get _Goodwitch_ to repair this without a problem, there's no issue here," the Doctor said, being very patient with the girl.

"Even still it was my fault that I broke this in the first place. Not to mention that I already entered your office without permission. I'm really sorry."

"You were just trying to help, in fact I was always so forgetful when it came to getting the mail at home." Litchi didn't even have to lie to make Velvet feel better, Linhau often had to remind her to check the mail lest she miss payments on important bills. "It's water under the bridge."

"Please…" Velvet continued to beg, not listening to word she was saying. "Please let me make it up to you."

The doctor gave a sigh as she saw the student begging before her. She'd made it abundantly clear several times that she didn't harbor a shred of ill will against the poor girl, but with her state start to get worse it was clear that she had to do something. Though… Litchi smiled as she realized a solution where _everyone_ could get what they wanted.

"If you really want to make it up, I think that there's something very important that I could have you do for me," Litchi decided. Velvet finally raised her head off of the floor to watch as the doctor headed for her office's closet. Looking across several bags, she seemed to smile as she chose a very specific one.

"I think that this will fit you nicely. There's a curtain over by that bed, change into this if you please," she instructed before heading back to the seat. Velvet eagerly nodded as she took the bag, closed the curtain and began to change. Litchi only smiled as she sipped her tea, her evening having just become much more interesting.

"Um… Doctor?" came the Rabbit Faunus's weak voice from the other side. "I… I don't think I can possibly wear this."

"Nonsense, I think that outfit is going to be a perfect fit for you," Litchi encouraged. "Well don't keep a girl waiting, put it on so I can see how it looks on you." There was a small shuffling of clothes as Velvet slowly compiled, nervously changing into the outfit. Litchi heard a deep breath on the other side as her victi- _volunteer_ readied themselves for the show. Once the curtain was pulled away however, Litchi was the one short of air. "You... look… adorable!"

Velvet let a low whimper as she clung closely to her sides, glancing down at what she'd been made to wear. It was a short sleeved white chinese outfit with a dark blue sash tied around her waist to form a butterfly on her back. Her school uniform's skirt had been traded for a pair of black tight shorts and she now even had to wear chinese style sandals. All in all, she looked like Litchi's daughter from the photo where she was carrying medical supplies.

"Why do you even have an outfit in this size?" Velvet whimpered.

"I just wanted to see if my daughter's favorite fashion statement would still look this great as she gets older, and now I can clearly say with confidence that it will! There's certainly going to be a lot less of an innocent child flair, but if she grows into it right she'll have all the boys' heads turning! The aura of a beautiful woman in traditional attire!"

'_She's planning a bit ahead…'_ Velvet thought to herself. "Well, if that's all, then I-"

"Oh no Velvet; that's all for _Linhua,_ but I'm afraid that _I_ still have a few outfits for you to try on." While Litchi was still smiling, Velvet had an underlying feeling that the previous sweetness had been replaced by something else entirely. "Let's see… this one next."

"Um, Doctor? Why do you have all of these costumes in your office?" Velvet asked as Litchi thrusted the next bag into her hands, this one feeling much heavier than the last one.

"They had to go somewhere, didn't they?" she reasoned.

'_Okay, but why do you have them in the first place?'_ the rabbit Faunus thought to herself as she closed the curtain. '_Might as well see this through for since I said I wanted to make it up to her. She's not going to go too far here.'_

Upon showing Litchi the next outfit, she was whimpering as she was proven wrong… so very wrong. The reason why the bag was so much heavier than the last was because she was now given armor to wear. The armor was a set of purple plates at functioned similarly to breastplate but left her arms, stomach, and midriff exposed. She didn't have any shoes, but she did have a set of plate armor on her lower legs But that wasn't the worst part, that would have to be fur shorts that she had to wear (with an added tail of course) along with the fur braces on her wrists.

"WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET THIS!?" she demanded with a crimson flushed face.

"It was a recreation of armor worn by the Rabbit Faunus of an ancient past!" Litchi explained excitedly. "That armor supposedly offered them great protection while allowing its wearer to be quick on their feet and without sacrificing mobility! It was the perfect armor for them!"

"Then what about the fur short pants?" Velvet demanded, feeling naughty just saying it.

"...To keep you warm," Litchi suggested.

"MOST OF MY BODY ISN'T EVEN COVERED!" Velvet screamed. "Just get me out of this! Now!"

"If you insist dear, but I think you look spectacular in those little outfits," the doctor tried to compliment. '_Alright, maybe I went too far on that one. This next one should be a little more playful… Ah! Perfect!'_ "This is just the one you need, go try it on!"

'_Wait a minute, I could've just changed back into my normal clothes and stopped this all here,' _Velvet realized as she had yet another bag forced into her hands. Litchi was still prodding her to try it on, claiming how good she'd look once she was in better clothes. '_Darn it. At least I'll be out of this thing…'_

Out of the frying pan… into more humiliation.

While it certainly covered a bit more than the last outfit, how it covered more was where the problem lay. She was dressed in a black, sleeveless, and very form fitting leotard, showing off every bit of her curves that lay beneath the fabric. Her legs were covered by dark but thin fishnet leggings that ending in black stilettos. She had an unconnected black bow tie and white collar set around her neck to pull the outfit together… only amplified by her natural bunny ears.

"What even is this?" Velvet demanded as she looked down at what she was wearing in embarrassment (which seemed to come with every outfit at this point) and concern. Her face managed to drop even further as she glanced behind her, noticing the ball of white fluff at her rear. "Litchi!"

"I knew you'd look the part~!" she exclaimed joyously. "Over in Haven this costume's been taking off in all of the host clubs! Some of their most popular hostesses have been Rabbit Fauni, and these outfits are often made to pay tribute to them! Even some of the most Faunus intolerant people have eased their positions after spending some time with one of these lovely ladies! It's a progressive movement in the making!"

"Th-this isn't progress! It's the exact opposite of that!" Velvet shouted in denial as she tried to cover her body. "I… I can't let anyone see me like this…"

"Dear, where's your imagination? I can think of several people that would love to see this," Litchi told her, trying to bring out Velvet's more adventurous side. "I can especially imagine a lot of First Year Students that would **LOVE** to have you as their Senpai when they get the smallest glimpse of you in this."

"Th-that's not what I'm trying to do!" Velvet expressed trying to defend herself and what sliver of pride she still had. "Just what are you trying to accomplish with all of these outfits?"

"Can you blame me if I think that you're a perfect model for them? It's like a gift from the gods themselves walked right into my office," the doctor tried to compliment. Her words were quickly starting to lose their effect on the girl and there was no sign of any confidence rising… not that it had been Litchi's only objective to do so. Looking through the remaining bags, Litchi decided it was time she went _all out_. "The one I'm about to have you try on is probably one of the cutest in my set! I'm sure that it might just manage to put everything else I have to shame!"

'_I'm starting to reach my limit with these outfits,'_ the poor student sighed to herself as she glanced at the bag Litchi was getting for was about to try and deny the request, but couldn't as she saw how brightly the doctor was smiling at her. Something told Velvet that this particular dress meant a lot to the Doctor. So (giving a rather large sigh) she decided it would be best to at least try it on. Of course, those thoughts quickly disappeared as-

"WHY AM I WEARING A WEDDING DRESS!?"

Litchi couldn't contain her own excitement as she looked over Velvet with a girlish giggle. The Rabbit faunus was indeed in a white dress, one with a red underskirt. The white dress was completed with odd spikes towards the rim of the dress and a collection of red belts along it. The open bust window still left this dress as plenty revealing and on the dress's back was a large bouquet of red roses.

"Velvet… whenever you run into the soul mate of your dreams, you are going to make them very _very_ happy," Litchi said with the strangest sense of motherly pride… despite not having known the student for even an hour.

"Misses Litchi, that's kind of you to say… but I could never wear something like this, even to my own wedding!" she denied as she examined the dress. "Look at it. Why does it even have METAL on it?"

"It's all part of the design! You have to make sure that you're dearly beloved won't be calling all the shots! They signed up to marry one _risque_ woman and you're going to give them the whole package! You're going to love 'em to death 'till the day they die!"

"I don't want to make that kind of vow to my future spouse, it'll scare them right off of the altar!" Velvet protested. "If anyone saw me in this they'd think I was lovestruck crazy!"

"And that's just what you need! Everyone knows that you're going to be in the market for your one true love, so this is exactly what you'll need to get everyone to know that you're available! Get them ready now because there are going to be wedding bells in their near future!"

'_Most people would be expecting a shotgun wedding if I always wore this…' _"Doctor, this has been… an adventure for sure, but can we end this here? I've been having a really stressful day so far and I don't think playing dress up is helping."

"Aw, but we were just starting to dip into the good stuff," Litchi protested with a small whine. Looking at Velvet with her best _puppy dog_ eyes, she tried to convince Velvet to just stay for a while longer. The Faunus had to struggle, but she managed to not give in to the look. "...I guess you have a point; I wouldn't be doing my job as a doctor if I was just causing you needless stress. Hows about we have you try on one last outfit? This last one is something that I think is going to give you a well needed… _edge._"

"An… edge? What do you mean?"

"You'll just have to try it on and find out. This is honestly going to be more for fun than an actual attempt since it's going to be so hard for you pull off, but if it doesn't suit you at least we can laugh about it together."

"Only one of us can be laughing at this point," she sighed as she took the outfit and got changed behind the curtain. She'd only opened the bag before she stopped and looked at the outfit. "Doctor Faye-Ling? I think someone destroyed your outfit."

"What?" Litchi asked, showing some rare concern in her words as she gasped at the news. "Are you certain?"

"I'm sorry but yes," the student said. Though she was relieved that she would get out of trying this single outfit on, she couldn't help but feel a little bad as she knew how much Litchi seemed to treasure these garments. "I don't know what it was, but these garments look like they've been put through some kind of shredder. There's barely any fabric that isn't just hanging loose and there barely anything more than a few strands of cloth to cover the skin."

"...And?" Litchi asked, expecting more.

"Um, that's what I see?"

"Oh, you had me worried there," she sighed in relief. Velvet had a very bad feeling about this. "Go and try that on! Oh, and make sure you completely wrap your left arm with the bandages in the bag. You need to look the entire part!"

'_The part of what? A Demon Queen?'_ Velvet later questioned with a grimace as she stood in full display of the doctor.

Much like Velvet had said earlier to try to get our of wearing the outfit, there wasn't much that would be able to cover her skin. All she had was the occasional torn piece of black fabric against her legs with led up to a pair of very damaged black shorts with a studded belt. The red garment she wore as part of her top barely did anything to cover her breasts. The ragged clothing that she had did extend into a cloak in the back, so at least her rear was properly covered. Once again she was wearing metal boots as armor, only this time she had her left arm wrapped in white bandages while her right hand had some sort of metal bangle on the wrist.

"...Doctor Litchi? What exactly am I wearing?" she demanded, the rabbit Faunus actually starting to develop some sense of anger.

"Hmm… I'm not exactly sure," she admitted as she looked over the outfit. "I thought I was going to try and give you a _Bad Girl_ look. Something so that you look a bit more intimidating… I've heard that you used to have quite the problem with being bullied."

"That's… true," Velvet had to admit, remember what Cardin's team had taken to doing early that quarter and the troubles that she'd faced her first year at _Beacon_. "But I think things are better for me now, and even then wearing… _this_ isn't going to help me."

"I can see it's not going to help you, there's no possible way you could wear the outfit right like you are now," Litchi told her. Velvet was disappointed as she looked down at her chest and hips. "No not like that; your body is able to fill out clothes perfectly, the problem is your face and eyes. Both parts of you are just too innocent to wear something like this. You're face needs to say that you're ready to fight if someone just look at you funny and your eyes need to be twice as merciless."

'_I only know one person at the Academy that could possibly meet that criteria and they wouldn't… oh who am I kidding? Ragna would wear this a hundred times better than I could, it's even red and black for him,'_ Velvet admitted before noticing that her right arm was getting pretty sore with such a heavy bangle on it.

"Honestly I was hoping that these clothes might get you to pursue a more aggressive edge, find something burning in your soul that wants you to go out there and take what you want by force if you have to," she admitted with a sigh as Velvet fiddled with her arm bangle, trying to make the fit a bit less uncomfortable. "I guess you're just too pure of heart for something like this, I mean I know I was expecting a lot, but for now you look like-"

_SHING!_

"EEEEP!"

Hearing Velvet scream then crash to the floor, Litchi looked on in shock as a small blade had extended from the bangle. It was well metal, sharpened, and looked especially deadly. Velvet looked at the thing in horror before turning to the doctor.

"Why is there an assassin's blade as part of this outfit!?"

"I don't know! I just thought it was part of the cosplay!" she shouted as Velvet tried to tug at the bracelet, this time to remove it for good. "Be careful! You could hurt yourself with that!"

"Then help me get this off!" the young woman begged, continuing to pull at the blade concealing bangle. Worried for the safety of a student (and a nifty volunteer for her cosplay kink), she got up and did her best to pull the dangerous piece off of Velvet. Both of them were so preoccupied with the process that neither of them had noticed the door opening.

"Oh," came a familiar voice that sent Velvet rigid. Thankfully that somehow did the trick with her bangel and retracted the deadly blade, but she had bigger worries at the moment. Both she and Litchi slowly turned their heads to find Coco stand at the doorway with her hands placed modlily on her hips. "...I _see_ how it is."

"Coco!" Velvet exclaimed as she tried to better cover the rags that made up her outfit. She wouldn't want to be seen like this by anyone, but being seen by her team leader was another realm of hell altogether. "Wh-what are you doing here!?"

"I was looking for you because I didn't see you at dinner!" she told her teammate with a scowl. "I can now see that you were doing something _more important_." She glared at Litchi before turning her attention back to the rabbit Faunus. "So I can't even get you to treat some of my best fashion suggestions seriously, but you'll wear this!?" she demanded, gesturing to Velvet and what she was wearing.

"I-It's not like that!" she fought to deny.

"Oh?" Litchi asked, putting an arm around Velvet as she seemed to pull the student _affectionately_ close. "And just what's wrong with my outfits?"

"Nothing's wrong with them; they're perfectly fine… FOR COSPLAY CONVENTIONS!" Coco finished as she lowered her sunglasses to show the scowl they'd been hiding. "Half the girls at the academy wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything close to that and the rest would be extremely hesitant to try them on at best. I understand wanting to go bold in a wardrobe, but be crazy just for the sake of it is insane!"

"Oh, so we have an up and coming fashionista at the academy do we?" Litchi questioned. Velvet noticed that the doctor's tone wasn't angry from the insult, but rather she intrigued by the newcomer's claims. "You mentioned something about having your own little outfits selected for Velvet, did you not?"

'_Oh no,'_ she thought, her ears starting to droop as she realized where this was going.

"More than a couple, but it's almost impossible to get her to model for me," Coco admitted. "Why? You think that you've got something that I don't?"

"Of course not, Miss…?"

"Coco, Coco Adel of Team _CVFY."_

"Coco then, I actually have an interesting proposition for you. Maybe the next chance we can find in the upcoming Term, why don't the three of us head into some of those adorable little fashion boutiques in _Haven_. While we're there, I'm sure that you could benefit from a second opinion at least, meanwhile I'd love to get your input for a few sets of clothes for my little daughter. It'd be a win-win for all of us!"

'_NOT ME!'_

"...Maybe I had you pegged wrong," Coco admitted as she put her glasses back on their rightful place. "Sure, whenever you're up for it, I'll be more than happy to put your fashion skills to the test."

"And I'm happy to see that that _Beacon_ has someone so fashion savvy enrolled! Trust me, by the end of the year the three of us will have changed the entire concept of fashion for every student here!"

A bond was formed… a friendship was made upon a first meeting… and poor Velvet was stuck in the crossfire.

_Later -Goodwitch's Quarters-_

"Thanks again for fixing the vase; the last thing I'd want to do is tell Linhua that it broke before the next term even started. I owe you one," Litchi said kindly as she looked at the repaired vase in her hands, silently praising her daughter's taste in decorations.

"You know that I'm always happy to help," Instructor _Goodwitch_ began. "But I hear that a certain _someone_ is up to their old tricks."

"Old tricks, why what could you ever mean by that?" the doctor asked slyly, not making much effort to feign her innocence.

"I think you know well enough, after all Velvet's reactions were very vocal," Glynda accused with a scowl.

"Vocal maybe, but I don't remember you stepping in to put a stop to it," Faye-Ling rebutted.

"Only because I know that I'd be dragged into it somehow…"

"Oh, but you were so cute back when you tried on those dresses," Litchi squealed at the memory while _Goodwitch's_ face managed to glow in a harsh blush while she adjusted her glasses. "That white Micro-bikini I had you try on was especially-!"

"Even if you're not a student, I know I can still find a way to put you on mopping duty this weekend," the instructor threatened, trying to get Litchi to keep from finishing her thought. That was a part of her past that she'd rather not relive.

"Are you suuuuuure?" Litchi asked with a purr to her words as she addresses her lifelong friend. "Just before I left Haven, I happened upon a set of maid outfits that I think would look perfect on you!"

"_Litchi Shishigami Faye-Ling..._" Goodwitch threatened, using her peer's true name to show she was completely serious.

"You at least have to see them with your own eyes, you won't believe some of the craftsmanship, the designs," she smirked. "The… _placement_ of the lace…"

"...Maybe… just a quick peek…"

_Meanwhile -Beacon Hallway-_

'_Where did this day go so wrong?'_ Velvet sighed as she walked through the hallways of _Beacon_ Academy. She was back in her own clothes (thank the Maidens) and her job delivering packages was finally completed, but that was the only improvement to her situation. She was tired, embarrassed, and hungry. She'd missed dinner thanks to all of her time playing dress up, but going out wasn't an option for her since she had been trying to save money. Anything in the student cookroom was fair to use, but she felt too tired to make anything now and she was pretty sure those kitchens wouldn't be restocked until tomorrow. '_Guess I'll have to go to bed hungry…'_

"Yo," came a casual greeting from down the hallway. Ragna was heading down to pass her by for the second time that a small tupperware container held under his arm. The Reaper himself looked like he'd cleaned up nicely enough since Velvet had seen him a few hours ago, now Ragna looked like he'd showered and gotten rid of his drowsier aura. He was still dressed in his black hakama set, but by the smell Velvet could easily tell that it had been washed since she'd last talked to him. "You doing alright?"

"I've been… having a day," she admitted with a sigh.

"A day? You looked fine when I saw you a couple of hours ago," Ragna told her as he thought back. "Did you have trouble finding Litchi's office?"

"No, I knew exactly where I needed to go," she told him, almost wishing she hadn't. "I even dropped it off personally…"

"So you met her then?" he noted before smirking. "She seems nice, yeah?" Velvet gave him a… look, one that seemed disappointed and almost a little angry. The Reaper had little idea of how to interpret that. Shaking his head, he offered the tupperware in his hands to the Faunus. "Here, take it."

"What is it?" she asked, not taking hold of it just yet.

"Potato and beef curry over brown rice," he told her, leading Velvet to pout.

"I missed something like that at dinner?"

"No clue what you missed at dinner, but I made this while you were… doing whatever the hell it is that's got you so stressed right now." To say Velvet was surprised was an understatement. While she had a particular fondness for curry, she knew that it wasn't any easy dish to get right even if you knew a good recipe. "Go on and take it; made too damn much to eat all this alone anyways."

"If you made too much, why are you taking it with you instead of just leaving it in one of the fridges?"

"Well…" Ragna began before scratching the tips of his nose, smiling while being somewhat embarrassed. "I was going to see if anyone from _RWBY_ wanted this, but from the looks of things you need it more than they do." Before Velvet could offer any form of protest, her stomach gave off a comical and well timed growl. Ragna's smile turned from a well meaning one into a slightly cocky smirk as Velvet's couldn't keep up her eye contact. "And that just about seals it. Come on, take it."

"...Thanks," she finally relented as she took the food. Even when she held the warm container in her hands, she was hesitant. "You're… not going make dress up in exchange for this, are you?"

"Uh!?" Ragna grunted. He hadn't been expecting that as Velvet's response. Scratching the back of his hair, he tried to find his voice. "I mean… not unless you wanted me to?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Velvet shouted with enough force that Ragna had to take a step back. Blushing as she realized the scene she just caused, she gave Ragna a small but formal bow for the food and left without another word.

"...Weird chick," Ragna muttered to himself as he headed on his way as well. '_The hell kinda dresses did she think I was going to force her to wear? Why did she think I was going to force her to wear something in the first place? ...Is that really how I come across her?'_

_**Author's Note BIG CHAPTER COMING UP**_

_**How many references can you identify? Let me know in your review!**_

_**If you've been keeping up with the Grimm Reaper's of Remnant story proper you'll already know that I've got one of my bigger updates planned for Valentine's Day in two weeks. That's going to be my next update so that I'm sure I'll have time to properly develop it and it's not rushed out.**_

_**That aside, let's see what the rest of you had to say about my Grimm Blue Radio feature.**_

_Wlyman2009_: Not before you brought it up, and I haven't exactly looked into it on my own. Sorry.

_P2R50N4_: Spongebob! Get serving up those Krabby Patties! Ar ar ar ar!

_Fernandamichelleraya_: Yeah, kinda nice to see everyone a little more… subdued.

_The Unplanner_: Jin's power of observation is often overlooked for his… complex. And I do like your idea, but I think I've got a way of doing it that will make much more sense as an actual progression.

_Bismarck Alexander_: Yeah, I get that sort of impression myself, though I think it's less dominatrix and more 'Stick up her ass about the rules' as Ragna would crudely put it.

_**Thanks for your reviews everyone! See you all in two weeks for the special chapter! Ciao!**_


	9. Denial

Major shoutout to _The Unplanner_who helped with this idea and is a regular reader of mine

_Suggested Readings are __Crimson XIX: Rivalries_

_**Extra 009: Denial**_

During their tenure at Beacon Academy, every student had become wise enough to know that keeping your volume at a reasonable volume wasn't optional. The threat of getting caught talking just a little too loudly by Instructor Goodwitch was enough for most students to keep to whispers during their trips to the facilities, knowing that she'd be quick to assign them cleaning duties as punishment. Even when students had a much more justified reason for talking such as a group assignment, they kept their volume low when she was around and that was if they were brave enough to not silence themselves entirely until she left. At this particular moment, the library was currently without any form of discussion… though this silence had been brought about by very different, very drastic means.

Many students stood with mouths hanging ajar at the display while others were simply frozen in place with their shock. The only sound was the occasional stone of rubble, falling from its place in the newly blasted hole in the library's wall… or one of the many openings behind that. The recently created hallway of breaches stopped at the office of one very surprised Doctor Faye-Ling, staring down in surprise at the unconscious female student that had just been blasted into her infirmary. Her medical experience told her that the student's life wasn't in any danger and only carefully moved to address their injuries, seeing that was her job as Beacon Academy's nurse.

Back in the library stood the cause of said destruction, wearing his familiar red coat with his sword set firmly upon one of his belts while the smaller blade remained sheath at his side. He hadn't drawn his weapons, not for this… he hadn't needed them. Letting out a deep and heated breath out of his nostrils, he glanced over at the table of girls he'd been sitting with. The youngest and the leader of the group was just looking aghast at the several holes in walls, in terrified awe of the silver haired man's strength. The nobler looking one was gathering her nerves, looking like she wanted to make some sort of comment unable to find the words. The dark dressed one with the cat ears didn't say a thing, in fact it didn't look like she'd even registered the blast as she stared down into her lap and stared at her shaking fists. As for the spunky blonde, she seemed more disappointed that she couldn't get a punch in herself.

Hearing footsteps coming through the wall's newly made opening, the delinquent turned his head back and saw the dreaded Professor approaching with eyes wide in disbelief as she observed the damage. While she couldn't possibly be surprised by the agressor's identity, she could afford to show some shock at how far he'd taken his actions. Under any other circumstances this student might've given her a shit eating smirk as she prepared to throw down the hammer… but he was still feeling a bit too pissed for that.

"Unbelievable, just completely unbelievable," she said to him, shaking her head. Her words weren't those of rage, disgust, or even annoyance. Goodwitch was only disappointed. "I'm not saying that you've ever stopped being a nuisance to the Academy with your constant antics and misdemeanors, but out of all the chances you've been given you decide to cause this much damage, right before finals?'

Ragna didn't offer any excuses, no vocal rebuttals. All he did was give the teacher a grunt and an obvious eye roll. Some of the students shivered as they noticed Goodwitch's eyebrow twitch, breaking her normally collected demeanor. _Now_ she was enraged.

"H-He was provoked!" Ruby called out, trying to come to his defense.

"Like… like REALLY provoked!" Yang tried to add. "If you'd heard half the things she said to him you'd-!"

"Know that he was still overreacting and nothing said can justify putting a student's life in danger or extensive damage to Academy property," Goodwitch interrupted, her gaze not leaving Ragna for a second.

"...Yeah, yeah, I'll grab the mop," the Reaper finally said as he began gathering all of his books and notes from his work table.

"You're working this entire weekend; no exceptions," Goodwitch told him, knowing full well the hell it would be putting Ragna through for his upcoming finals. Flicking her wand, she activated her semblance and started repairing the walls that the Reaper had destroyed in his outburst.

"You're not going to try to fight her decision? You know how much time you're about to lose on studying for the finals and you were already behind before this,' Weiss reminded, trying to be a voice for reason.

"I'll be fine; not like it's the first time I've had to deal with this shit,' Ragna told her as he started heading out for his regular clearing duty. Passing by Blake, he leaned down and whispered something in her ear that caused the cat Faunus to look at him in shock. The Reaper only smirked as he headed off, facing yet another round of punishment via menial labor.

"What'd he say to you?" Ruby asked Blake as her eyes continued to follow their friend.

"It was… nothing, absolutely nothing,' she lied, a storm of differing thoughts and vortex of conflicting emotions running through to her core.

_Worth it._

_Later That Night -Beacon Cafeteria-_

"So sticking me with this pain in the ass work wasn't enough for you Goodwitch, you had to make sure I missed dinner too?" Ragna growled to himself as he submerged his mop in cleaning solution before continuing to wipe down the floors.

As usual whenever he was put up to do this kind of work by Goodwitch, the Reaper was in one of his usual crass huffs. Sure he'd said it had been worth it even if he knew he was going to get punished, but that didn't mean he wouldn't mouth off about it like he always did. To him either that was one hell of a stick Goodwitch had up her ass or she had it out for him worse than Tsubaki did… and this was supposed to be AFTER he'd already managed to score some points from the time they'd fought. No matter what, he'd either find himself on the receiving end of one of her disciplinary decisions or one of her scowling glares… and the really screwed up part was that there seemed to be more than a few students that wanted to be in his shoes.

"God damn it. Did some asshole start a food fight before I got here? There's no way this place should be such a pigsty," he muttered while he searched under one of the tables and somehow found an entire dinner plate's worth of uneaten food just dumped on the ground. No, if it had been a food fight that had caused this mess he would've had some help cleaning it, he knew Goodwitch was reasonable to punish other lawbreakers at least a little fairly. More likely word had gotten out about the stunt he'd pulled and anyone that had a bone to pick with him had done this to try and make things harder for the Reaper. "...Tch, petty bitches are all over the place today."

Shaking his head, the Reaper delivered a modest kick to the table's side to shove it off to the side. Glad that he'd at least been given some rubber gloves to work with, he started scooping up the mix of cheeseburgers and meatloaf (the smell of which was already far from pleasant) and started loading into the garbage bin. While he was cleaning the mess, his enhanced hearing managed to catch the doors to the cafeteria opening.

"Read the damn sign; we're closed for cleaning," he called crassly to whoever was coming in.

"I don't have anything to worry about falling from the ceiling this time, do I?" came Blake's voice. Picking up the last large clump of this floor food pile, Ragna rose to his feet to face his friend. Her passive demeanor made her attitude a little hard to read and she'd come into the cafeteria with an arm full of notebooks topped with a small bag full of something. "What's with the new outfit?"

"Goodwitch recently got these for the cleaning crew, but I'm pretty sure this set is tailor made for me at this point." In addition to the rubber gloves, Ragna was also given a white cleaning apron to wear. He also had a white cleaning sash on his head to protect his hair. Noticing his friend was a little off put by his attire, he gave a snarky smirk. "Clearly I look better in black."

"I guess, but is she forcing you to wear that?"

"Not really, I doubt she'd make too big of a fuss if I went without it. But as long as I have it, might as well use it to keep the rest of my clothes clean. This however…" Ragna held up the mop he was using. It looked like just about any other mop you'd see students using at the academy, whether it be for cleaning the hallways or even borrowing from the supply closet to clean out their dorm rooms. The only difference for this particular one was a label printed cleanly on the handle for all to see.

_PROPERTY OF RAGNA THE BLOODEDGE_

Despite the situation her friend was in, Blake couldn't help but smirk. "Who knew that Professor _Goodwitch_ has a sense of humor?"

"Who knew," Ragna muttered in agreement. "But enough about my problems, what with all of those books you've got there?"

"They're the notes we've taken while we were in the library," she told him, her smirk fading as her demeanor turned serious once more. "You're going to need every bit of help you can if you're going to pass finals after going through this, so I don't want to hear you being stubborn and not taking the help."

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to turn down this kind of help," he assured before removing one of his gloves so he could toss her his room keys. "Just drop those off in my room and make sure the door's closed. I'll get 'em back to you before breakfast tomorrow. Crap, she's going to make me miss breakfast too, isn't she?"

"Maybe it wasn't as 'worth it' as you were saying," she tried to tell him. Ragna didn't bother addressing that,. "Listen, I know I should thank you for what you did; I _want_ to thank you… but I really wish you hadn't."

"Don't expect an apology Blake, I'm not apologizing to anyone for what I did. Not to you, not to _Goodwitch,_ and I sure as hell won't apologize to that racist bitch that tried to slut-shame you."

"Ragna…"

"_A Stray Cat in Heat. _That's what she called you Blake," Ragna reminded her with a scowl. "Before that she was mouthing off about your entire team and even before that she was clearly trying to piss me off with her insults. She got what she wanted."

"And I know that Ragna, of course I know that," she sighed as she thought back, remembering someone that Ragna had always reminded her of… certain times more than others. "I know what you were pressured into doing. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang? Of course they know too."

"_Goodwitch_ probably knows, but if she has the chance to get me in trouble I think she'd rather take that." Ragna's smirk wasn't helping to lighten the mood and Blake's serious scowl let him know that. "...You were saying?"

"Ragna, my team knows what you were trying to do and there were probably plenty of people that saw what happened in the library. But to some of those people that isn't going to matter, and that's the problem. They're only going to see what they want to see and that's someone who'd be willing to kill another student just because they insulted a Faunus."

"You know I'd never go that far," Ragna told her. "Clearly I can get dark at times, but you'd know I'd never kill another student." '_Unless they did something that warranted it.' _"I know that this Faunus intolerance shit is still tense at the Academy, but staying down and taking the beating isn't what's going to isn't what's going to solve that problem."

"And throwing wild punches isn't fixing it either. I… I know what counter attacking humans can do, and in that sense everyone loses." She sighed, it really was just like talking to… well to her ex. But there was one part nagging at the back of her mind, one part that was ever so different. "...What about when she was insulting you?"

"It was annoying, what else is there to say?" Ragna told him as he continued working.

"Really? Because I don't think you came even close to boiling over when she was insulting you, and she was throwing some pretty offensive terms your way." The Reaper paused in his work, trying to keep his back to Blake as not to show his own guilt. "So you won't can't even be bothered to try and defend yourself when someone like that wants to get under your skin, but the moment they think of going after us you fly off the handle?"

"Uh… sorry?" Ragna answered, not really sure how he was trying to respond.

"Honestly," Blake sighed, though the cat Faunus couldn't help but give a small smirk. There was one difference; a difference of reason… to her a BIG difference. "You're impossible, you know that?"

"You say that about me, but here you are attacking me for throwing that punch instead of the student who should've been expelled from the Academy long ago," the Reaper muttered. "If anything, I'd say that your way of thinking makes you the impossible one." Blake rolled her eyes, but she couldn't exactly argue with him. "But then again…"

"What?"

"If fixing Faunus-Human relations were really that simple, someone would've done it by now." As Ragna turned to his head to face her, Blake saw that rare and well meant kindness is his eyes. "If anything it's probably going to take someone impossible like you to fix it."

"You… you really think I'd be able to do something like that?"

"Hey, if I had to have faith in anyone's cause, I'd put mine in yours in a heartbeat," the Reaper told her. "Not saying that shit would be easy, but I'm sure you'd manage something… isn't that why you came to _Beacon_ in the first place?"

"You're giving me too much credit," Blake told him modestly, the slightest of pink tinges decorating her cheeks. Taking the bag she'd carried in with the notebooks, she set it on the nearby table. "There's a small dinner in there that we managed to sneak out, make sure you don't starve and grab some when you get a chance."

"Seriously? That's awesome!" Ragna said, thankful since he'd originally thought he'd have to miss out on dinner entirely.

"And…" Blake started before sighing. "You _do _always come to my defense whenever anyone wants to make trouble for the Faunus… and those other times… so I definitely owe you."

"C'mon, you know I wasn't doing any of that because I was expecting a favor back. You're my friend, so if I got a chance to help you out there's no reason why I shouldn't."

"So it goes both ways; if we're friends there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to pay you back," Blake argues. "Whenever we force you to come along with one of our plans or we need a hefty favor from you, you'll always help us out no matter what we're asking. Meanwhile we barely have the chance to pay you back. We're all thankful… but I think I'd feel better if I could do something to show how much what you do means to me."

"I mean…" Ragna began before looking at Blake with _wanting _eyes. Under normal circumstances Blake might've been offended if someone looked at her like this, but this was Ragna. She knew him enough to know what he was _really_ after and where he was looking was kind of a dead giveaway. "If you don't mind…"

Blake glared at him for what he was implying he wanted… but didn't turn him down just yet. She'd often caught Ragna passing glances at her ears and he'd often have to avert his attention whenever she caught him doing so. Letting him pet her ears was also a complicated issue; this was supposed to be done only by spouses or dedicated lovers, not even her ex had been given that right. But, if it was the one thing he was asking for…

"Listen to me; no one else finds out about this," she ordered. Ragna himself seemed a little surprised that she was giving him permission. "Well?"

"...You're sure about this?" Ragna asked, making sure there was proper consent.

"Yes, now do you want to or not?" she questioned fiercely.

Nodding slowly and removing his rubber gloves. Blake didn't look as he slowly touched her ears, but she did give a short shiver at the immediate contact. Though he'd been waiting for this for quite some time, Ragna held himself back from being rough as he felt Blake's ears. The silky smooth fur between his fingers was a feeling that he could barely put into words, the ears themselves offering just the slightest of resistance and bending slightly against his touch. Getting in a bit closer, he tried stroking the tips and-

_Purrrrrrrrrrr_

'_Is she…?'_

"Th-that's enough!" Blake demanded as she grabbed Ragna's wrists and forced them off of her ears, her face flushed with crimson as she scowled at him. He honored her wish and didn't go for a second feel, his face oddly neutral as he kept eye contact with his Faunus friend. "I'll drop these notebooks off in your room… AND DON'T EXPECT THAT AGAIN!" Turning to head out, she couldn't help but cover her ears in embarrassment with one of her hands, realizing why something like that was usually reserved for intimate relations. After she'd left, the Grim Reaper could only give one of his largest smiles as he put his work gloves back on.

'_Double worth it.'_

_Three Weeks Later -Present Day-_

"Blake? Blaaaaaaake? Helloooooo?" Hearing Nora's voice snapped the Cat Faunus out of events of the past and brought her back to the present where she was required. "You okay, you've been spacing out for the last few minutes."

"Er, I'm fine," she told her, trying to shake those lingering memories out of her mind. "I'm just tired with all of this research we have to do."

"No kidding, we've barely started _Project Hell_ and it already feels like were a couple dozen weeks behind at least," Nora sighed. "Guess all of those rumors of this being hell were true."

"...Weren't you the one _spreading_ those rumors?" Blake reminded her random project partner with a heavy dose of reality. Nora didn't seem to be in the mood to comment. "Either way, I think we should call it good for today; trying to work while we're not all here is only going to hurt our chances."

"Speaking of chances," Nora seemed to be beginning with a scheming smile towards Blake. "What would you say the chances are that as soon as you started _staring off into space_, your eyes just happened to start following a certain someone?"

'_Don't tell me I was-'_ Blake thought before she glanced to where she was staring, catching sight of Ragna as he reshelved the library books that had been taken off by other students during their own _Project Hell_ rush. As expected, the Reaper was swearing under his breath about the situation and how _Goodwitch_ should've found someone else to pick on by now. Trying to keep a still face, she turned her attention back to Nora. "Just a coincidence, you're reading into that a lot more than you need to."

"More like I can read you like a book," Nora taunted with a goofy grin. "I've been catching you giving Ragna the occasional passing glance; your goo-goo eyes aren't that subtle." Blake coughed into her fist at Nora's phrasing. "So what do you think his best feature is? His spiky silver hair, his awesome combat skills, that ever mysterious dark personality, or is it that swearing tough guy side?"

"For someone accusing me of having a thing for him, you seem to have plenty of good things to say about Ragna yourself," Blake whispered back with a hiss.

"Eh, no shame in complimenting a buddy of my team and my team lead's past trainer. 'Sides, I've already got my eye on a different tall, brooding, and handsome gentleman." Nora then seemed to turn oddly serious. "So, when do you plan to make a move?"

"There's not a move to make; Ragna's just a friend. He's always been a really good friend to have, but that's all there is between us," Blake explained. "And I'm not interested in taking things any further with him… or anyone else."

"No need to clarify that last part, if you're not willing to start a flame with Ragna I doubt that you're half as warm with anyone else here," the hammer user decided, though Blake felt those words would be better applied to someone like Weiss. The orange haired student then gave a nasty smile as an idea formed in her mind. "Guess we should make sure he's in the loop, right? Oh Ragna!"

Letting out a sigh at Nora's call, Ragna placed one last book back before heading over to the two. This was much to Blake's horror as she tried to shut her up by delivering a swift elbow to Nora's ribs. She didn't seem too bothered, smiling brightly through the pain as the Reaper finally made his way over.

"You should probably keep your volume down while we're in the library; last thing you want is _Goodwitch_ to send a chore your way on top of project hell," Ragna told them. Since the quarter had begun, the Reaper had somehow managed the seemingly impossible task of keeping himself out of trouble and focused on his studies. He hadn't been caught doing anything wrong by the instructor and the only reason he'd been forced to help here was because of a regular assignment for these duties. "So… what'd you need?"

"I didn't need anything, but Blake here had something important that she wants to tell you," the hammer user told him innocently as she looked expectantly to her _Random Project_ partner. "Go on, he's right here isn't he?"

'_THIS IS BLACKMAIL!'_ she thought to herself as she briefly grit her teeth only to realize that Ragna had bought into it and appeared to be waiting for an answer. Thinking fast, she glanced at the pile of books in Ragna's hands and snatched one. "I was hoping to grab this from the shelf later, but Nora just thought that we _had_ to have it now."

"Sounds about right," he agreed with a shrug. Nora wasn't sure which of them to glare at. "I'll catch you later; gotta finish shelving the rest of these damn things before I get back on track with my own projects."

"Take care of yourself," she told him, giving a kind smile as parting words. Ragna nodded as he headed off, pausing only to give a brief snarl as a group of students added their library books to his pile instead of putting them away themselves. Blake smirked slightly at the exasperated look her friend gave her, but remained silent until she was sure Ragna was out of ear shot. Once she was sure however, her expression turned venomous as she turned to Nora. "What were you thinking?"

"You could've just told him, but you didn't," Nora noted slyly. Deciding that a comeback here would be pointless, Blake gathered up her belongings and headed for the front desk so she could check out the book that she'd had to take from Ragna to save face. Nora only continued to smirk as she watched her leave. True she didn't exactly have too much stock in putting the two together, but it was obvious that there was something there that Blake wasn't caving into. What kind of partner would she be if she didn't give a little… _push_ in the right direction? Playfully humming to herself, she tried to come up with a plan on how to give that spark a little fuel.

"I think I know what you're trying," said a new voice from behind her. Turning to the speaker, she found herself looking at the Squirrel faunus, Makoto Nanaya. While Nora hadn't talked much with her, she'd seen her around enough to know that she was a close friend of Blake's. Taking the empty seat that Blake had been in a moment ago, Makoto sat down so she could speak to Nora at eye level.

"Don't say that you're trying to stop me. It's clear as day that those two need to-" She couldn't finish as Makoto brought her hand up, but not in any form of a punch. Instead she brought it up with an open palm, like she was hoping for Nora to take it.

"You kidding? _I'M IN._"

"...I knew I'd like you," Nora said with an eager and cocky smile as she roughly grabbed the hand with one of her own and sealed their new alliance.

"Jin and Tsubaki after this?"

"One thing at a time."

_Later That Night -Beacon Dormitories-_

"We've been waiting here for a while now," Makoto noted as she and Nora ducked behind the corner in wait. "Are we sure he hasn't gone yet?"

"Positive; Ragna always waits to shower until he's completely sure that there won't be anyone else in there with him. No one knows why, but I guess it's a part of his more modest side. I'm not that surprised he hasn't shown up… scratch that, he's here!"

Both girl's ducked around the corner as the Academy's Grim Reaper made his way to the public showers. With a black towel over his shoulder and a set of night clothes (which he'd reluctantly headed out and bought) under an arm, Ragna was in fact heading to the showers stifling a yawn as he was exhausted from another day of harsh study.

"Dang it, someone else is coming," Makoro groaned as it seemed like their plan was coming undone.

"Not to worry, it's just Ren," Nora noted as her partner began to strike up a conversation about something with Ragna. "This isn't a big setback. Even though it's those two, Ren's not one to keep a conversation going."

"Not the most social person then. Wonder why he gets along with the guy who'll smash someone through the Academy walls when he gets too pissed."

"I asked Ren about it and the only answer he gave me was a cryptic _He's like us_. Aside from that, they seem to get along pretty okay without even trying that hard. I like that Ren has someone else talk to, even if every other word out of their mouth is a swear."

"Good for him I guess. And it looks like they're done talking," Makoto noted as Ren headed off and Ragna finally went into the showers. "Great, now we need to find a way to get him to drop everything and leave his scroll unlocked. Any plans?"

"Already got one, completely foolproof," Nora told her confidently as she pulled out her own scroll and started tapping out Ragna's number. It rang about four times before Ragna finally decided to answer. "Hey Ragna, kind of in a bind right now and I need your help."

"Dammit Nora, I was just about to shower," came his crass grumbling voice on the other. "Can't you take care of whatever the hell it is you're bothering me for?"

"I would, but I don't think I'd be fast enough," the mallet user told him, keeping her voice serious. "We have a _Code Skull_ so…"

Nora didn't have to say another word as both girls heard clattering on the other end. Running out of the bathroom with nothing in his arms and hastily readorned clothes was a panicked Ragna, going seemingly as fast as his legs could carry him. The call was still on Nora's phone, confirming to both girls that their plan had gone without a hitch.

"_Code Skull_?" Makoto questioned.

"It's Ragna's codename for whenever Noel starts cooking," Nora explained.

"Oh, Tsubaki and I call it _Death Dinner_," the Squirrel beastkin noted, not too surprised by the similarity. "I'm going in. This shouldn't even take a minute, but stand guard just to be safe."

Keeping her attention between her scroll and the hallways, Nora did just that. Her phone call with Ragna soon ended on the other line as Makoto took control of the device, easily using it for their own means since Ragna had left it unlocked. Much like she'd said, the quick warrior got out of the bathroom without a hitch and gave her accomplice a thumbs up.

"So we got the message we already prepped sent, deleted it on his phone, and Ragna's none the wiser!" Nora told her _Random Project_ partner with her own thumbs up of victory.

"I'm not sure that none the wiser is how we should put it; it's going to be obvious to him that something's up when he gets to the student kitchens and realizes that Noel's not there," Makoto told her. "We'll just have to hope that he doesn't care."

"Then it's a good thing I made sure that Noel actually was there to sell our story!"

"Yeah, it's… you… YOU DID WHAT!?" Makoto screamed, which might've blown their cover if Ragna hadn't been so busy.

"Don't worry about it, thanks to a horror story I heard from Ragna and Ruby we'll be fine!"

"A… horror story?"

'_Wow… She's shoveling down that… that… what the hell even is that supposed to be?' Ragna thought as he stared at the scene, the tension matching something right out of a horror movie. Mai was currently wolfing down Noel's newest creation; a thing so was so pungent and disgusting to look at that Ragna was half sure that his brain was self censoring the details just to keep him sane._

"_M-Mai! Try to control yourself! I was going to try and offer that to the rest of my team!" Noel tried to protest as Mai was downing an entire bowl of her cooking by the spoonful, going so fast Ragna was wondering where she found the chance to breathe. "I can always make you your own some other time!"_

"_I'm sorry Noel, but it's so good I couldn't stop myself if I wanted to~!" the violet haired girl explained. Ragna had a distinct feeling that she wasn't sorry in the slightest… not that he was complaining._

"_Help yourself, I had a big dinner anyways," he muttered as he left the kitchen in a huff. "Called out of my shower for nothing, what a damn waste of time."_

"...Wow, for someone that acts really energetic like me, you've really got this whole planning thing down pat," Makoto complimented as the two walked down the hallways, already a long distance away from the showers to avoid running into Ragna and raising his suspicions. Nora gave her a smile, their unlikely alliance blooming ever further. "Next part though… no matter what we did to plan for it, this next part was always going to be a gamble."

"Eh, I'd say that we took a safer bet here," Nora countered with a smirk. "But you're right, it's a gamble either way and we need both of them to go along with our plan without realizing it."

"...I _might_ just have a way that we can put it further in our favor," Makoto added thoughtfully, taking out her own scroll to shoot off a quick message.

_The Next Morning_

"Ugh…" Blake groaned as she slowly rubbed the sleep out of her squinting eyes. Her ears still hearing the soft breathing (with a little snoring) from her teammates, she realized that she'd awoken before their alarm had gone off. Though her cat eyes could easily see in the dark, she went for her scroll so that the screen would help wake her up. '_Jeeze, even with how exhausting the projects have been it's been getting so hard to get a full night's sleep, like there's something that's been keeping me up…'_

Opening her scroll up, she was surprised to find that she'd been sent a message from Ragna. While Ragna was never one for using technology to keep social (or to be very social in the first place) Team _RWBY_ had been trying to get him to use his scroll more to help him keep in touch. Ragna hadn't seen much of a point in it as he could easily say what he wanted face to face, but he'd at least managed to send a few messages even just to get them off his case. Curious about what her friend had to say, she opened up the message.

_Hey Blake, starting to see why they call this damn thing project hell. I've been surviving, but having Goodwitch get on my case if she thinks I so much as breathe too loudly ain't helping. I need an effin' break and I'm sure you could use some RR as well._

_Planning isn't my strong suit, so let's head into town, grab some grub, and see what else we're in the mood for. A half hour after class on Friday work for you? Write back heads or tails; no way of knowing if we're going to have time to talk between all this shit._

"...You have got to be kidding me," Blake sighed as she re-read the message. "Ragna sends me a message like this right after Nora tries to get me to open up? What was she thinking would happen trying to trick me like this?"

Glancing down at the delete button on her scroll, she was about to press it and end the charade… but had second thoughts.

'_I mean… this does sound like something that Ragna could write… And I guess maybe he might want to go out… B-But that doesn't mean I have to play into Nora's hands! I can-! I...'_

She was once again about to delete the message… but once again, committing to the action was far easier in her head. Much like Nora and Makoto had planned the ball was now in her court, meaning no matter what the choice she made going forward would be hers and hers alone.

_That Afternoon: Free Period -Sparring Room-_

(Cue _**Under Night In-Birth**_ _Monochrome Memory_)

'_I used to think that Azrael was just a battle crazy freak, treating most of his fights like he was on a relaxing break,'_ Ragna thought to himself, smirking as he used _Aramasa's_ wide blade to block a widespread volley of gunfire. '_But now that we're in Project Hell, I'm starting to see what he was getting at; this feels like the most fun I've had in a while.'_

While using his main blade to maintain his defense, he used a free hand to grab _Clarent_ from its sheath and instantly turned the weapon from longsword to rifle form. Timing it so that he'd retaliate just as soon as his opponent ran out of bullets, he dropped his guard and fired off a single powerful shot dead at them. The rubber ammunition was cut cleanly in half by Lie Ren who then shifted to a close quarters offensive now that his ammunition was spent. Ragna fired off another shot, but Ren managed to quickly flip to the side before closing the distance between the two. Honestly glad that the two were now up close Ragna like he prefered it, he quickly shifted his rifle back to sword form and prepared for a match between twin blades.

The Grim Reaper managed to deflect the first _StormFlower_ blade with his _Aramasa_ easily enough, but while using _Clarent_ to deflect the second he actually swung too fast and missed the clash entirely. Ragna barely managed a backstep in order to narrowly avoid the attack, but Ren only used that mistake to continue his pressure. Slashing inward with both of his weapons, the attack was easily blocked by Ragna while Ren used the force of the clash to vault himself into the air. Unlocking one of his empty weapon clips while twisting around in midair, he kicked the object downwards before following with a powerful dive kick. Trying to handle a better control of his lighter weapon, Ragna batted away the clip with _Clarent_ before blocking the kick itself with _Aramasa_. Using the blade's surface, Ren then jumped away to create more distance between them. Ragna tried to fire off another shot from _Clarent_ to catch him, but his opponent unlocked his second clip and used that to take the bullet meant for him. Now it was Ragna's turn to close the distance as the two went to close quarter combat once more.

Trying to take the more offensive approach this time around, Ragna started with a slash from _Clarent_ followed by a massive swing from the _Aramasa_. The attack from _Clarent_ was certainly fast, but Ragna was so focused on the weapon's speed that it lacked the raw power that his fighting style was so used to. As such Ren had managed to block the attack easily enough and wasn't even stunned by the force, effectively letting him dodge the massive blade before retaliating with another blade swipe of his own. Ragna managed to deflect the attack with _Aramasa_, but he also noticed that his opponent managed to use the opportunity between the attack to attach a fresh bullet clip to his free weapon.

'_He's getting pretty damn cocky right now,'_ Ragna thought to himself, though Ren's face remained as stoic and focused as it usually was. Stabbing forward with the _Aramasa_, the risky move would usually have left the user wide open to a counter attack but Ragna had ways of covering those openings. Using _Clarent_ he managed to once again deflect Ren's incoming strike, this time with enough force to send him stumbling back. He tried to capitalize on the opening with his weapons, but was forced to use the _Aramasa_ to defend against yet another barrage of bullets as his sparring partner made for a desperate defense. What was worse that while the Reaper was guarding, Ren was able to use the opportunity given to him to unlock his second weapon clip and reload his second _StormFlower_. '_Dammit, this is starting to get old.'_

Again Ren used every last training bullet in his clip, creating a short stalemate to give himself some breathing room. With Ragna once again ready to go on the offensive he kicked a third empty weapon clip his way just to give himself a brief second's advantage and to get a shot in at enraging the Reaper. Ragna to his credit didn't fall for the attempted tilt and used the _Aramasa_ to deflect the clip this time before shifting _Clarent_ into blade form and using a ranged strike of his own. Once again Ren managed to cut through the almost ridiculously powered rubber bullet before returning the battle to melee range.

Ren seemed to open with another pincer attack with two different angles. The twin strikes only proved to be a feint as Ragna swung outward with both of his swords, unable to connect with either of Ren's blades. Using the still fully loaded _StormFlower_, Ren unleashed a short hail of bullets and forced Ragna to use _Aramasa_ as his defence one more. Following that with a strong overhead swing, Ragna managed to deflect Ren's attack with _Clarent_ before knocking his other weapon away and misdirecting the next safety barrage. Ren jumped back as Ragna tried to combo an _Aramasa_ swing into the attack, barely dodging the blade. Ragna rushed forward with a twin slash just as Ren landed, forcing him to do the same in a desperate defense. Now that it was power against power, Ren was at a serious disadvantage and needed to come up with something that instant to-

_**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!**_

(End theme)

Both Ragna and Ren came to an abrupt halt as their third sparring round of 99 seconds came to a halt. Normally the two could have engaged in much longer bouts, but unlike Ragna's confrontation with Azrael neither of them were fighting to prove a point. This was just a few friendly matches between colleagues to relieve themselves of stress, and to its credit it seemed to be doing the trick. Also, with the match so short it was easy to identify their opponent's style and make observations that would carry onto the next round, hence the two minute grace period in between.

"You're acting pretty ballsy out there, far more reckless than I'd expect from someone like you," Ragna commented, resheathing his longsword and setting his large blade back on his belt. "Using up all of your bullets and reloading right in front of your opponent? That takes some serious nerve… though I guess I was giving you plenty of chances to."

"You were, I think it's pretty clear that you're still unused to fighting with two weapons at the same time," Ren said in response.

"Honestly I've never had any real practice with it; most of what I was doing out there was mimicking a couple of moves that my master showed me and trying to copy bits of what you were doing," the Reaper admitted. "I'm pretty damn surprised that I even managed to do that well against you."

"That's not because of your skills with twin blades, it's-"

"My basic fundamentals in fighting, I know," he finished with a sigh. "Trust me when I say I wouldn't be able to forget those if I tried; my master drilled those too damn hard into my skull."

"...If half of what Team _RWBY_'s said about you being thick headed is true, he must have been forced into some extreme drilling," his friend responded, smirking as he made a very rare joke. Ragna chuckled a bit in response to that, silently admitting that there was some truth to that. "Don't stay too hard on yourself though, the sheer difference in weight alone between the two weapons would make fighting with both near impossible, and that's nothing to say about their differing shapes and lengths. It's impressive that you managed to do that much with such a handicap."

"I felt that too," Ragna admitted as he glanced back at _Clarent_. "If I really want to use both of these damn things at once, I'm going to need something heavier so that I even myself out."

"And you need to find some way to use your rifle more; you still have plenty of ammo left in your first clip," Ren advised. "Speaking of which…"

While Ren headed to restock his ammunition clips for their next round of sparring, Ragna felt a small buzz coming from one of his coat pockets. Taking his scroll out and unlocking it, he saw that he'd been sent a study request from Cinder (still didn't know how she got his number), an electric reset warning for the next day, and a rather strange message from Blake.

_Sounds good. I'll see you then._

'_See me then? For what?'_ Ragna confusedly thought to himself as he scrolled through the conversation thread he'd had with her to check if he was missing something. '_...Nothing there, so what the hell is she replying to?'_

"Something wrong?" Ren asked as he went back to the center of the room, fully reloaded and ready to commence their next bout of sparring.

"Nah, it's nothing. Let's just keep going at this while I still have some idea of what I'm doing using two weapons at once," he encouraged as he pocketed the scroll and prepared himself. '_She was probably just trying to message Yang or something, sent it to me by mistake. Doubt it's anything I gotta worry about.'_

_That Night -RWBY's room-_

"...He read my response… and he hasn't sent anything back about sending it to the wrong person," Blake realized as she sat in her team's room alone, checking to see if Ragna had sent a reply to confirm her suspicions. "Does he really just want to go out… just the two of us?"

Needless to say, Blake had mixed feelings. While it was true that part of that was still due to her lingering suspicions toward Nora, there was more to be considered even if she knew for certain that Ragna was really asking her out. The more she and the Reaper had seen of each other during their tenure at the Academy, the more she'd realized that underneath all of the snark and abrasiveness there was actually a warm, genuinely sweet, and guy there. It'd almost be an understatement to say that she thought highly of him… but that was almost a problem. She'd thought a lot of someone else from her past, someone else that she'd thought the world of… but that person had let her down. This only added to her already exaggerated nerves about dating in the first place, which was nothing to say about dating after her former relationship left her with baggage.

"Calm down Blake; he's only asking you out on one date, not some lifelong commitment," she told herself, trying to relax. Though she was alone, she tried to put on a smile and look forward to whatever the next evening would hold. "...But if I'm going out tomorrow night, I suppose I should look the part."

_The Next Day: After Classes -RAIN's room-_

"Going to fess up a bit here, just so I can give everyone context," the _Mad Dog_ of the Academy told his teammates. "Back during the break while you guys were off on your vacation, my leader and I got into a pretty big fight for a day."

"I would probably be more surprised if you didn't clash that entire time we were gone," Tsubaki admitted. "And you're telling us this because…?"

"No, you don't get it. We fought, for _a day_," Azrael told them. "We began fighting in the woods just after we finished breakfast, and only stopped fighting at just after 6. We didn't have any breaks to catch our breath, never stopped for a lunch break, and we were constantly going full force."

"Um… is that why we passed by a large wasteland in the forest on our flight back?" Noel asked her partner, though she already had a feeling she knew the answer.

"That was probably us, yeah," he admitted, figuring there wasn't much point in hiding it now. "The reason I'm telling you all of this is that the fight only ended there was because Ragna had plans that he refused to miss out on. He was still looking like he could go an hour or two at least…" Azrael then glanced to their team lead's bed. "And he wasn't half as exhausted as he is now."

"Shut up," Ragna growled from his bed as he laid on top of the bedcovers, his face planted deep into his pillow as his arms stayed at his side. _Project Hell_ had hit him harder than he'd imagined, not only because of the reginime that Nora and the others had warned him about, but also due to a multitude of outward factors… not least of which was the partner he'd been assigned to work with. She'd kept him busy and on his toes, so much so that he hadn't even had the time to see anyone from Team _RWBY_ since his brief run in with Blake at the library (and convincing her to let him take that sparring break with Ren had been a trial in itself). Mentally, the Reaper was completely drained.

"L-Look on the bright side, we're done with classes for this week aren't we?" Noel tried to encourage her team leader. "You won't have to worry about those for a while!"

"That just means that I have to get more research done this weekend so I'm ready for next week," came Ragna's muffled retort from his pillow. While Tsubaki was at least a little pleased that her leader was treating his studies seriously, she was worried by how brutal it seemed to be for him barely their second week in. There was then a short knock at the door, leading Ragna to give a tired groan. "Someone mind getting that?"

'_If he's burning out this early, there's no chance of him making it through the whole quarter,'_ Azrael thought as he headed to answer the knocking, even he was slightly worried that his leader was going to face a harsh burnout… of course the reason for that worry was how it would affect his fighting ability. Opening the door, Azrael paused for a brief moment before turning to his leader's bed. "Pretty sure it's for you."

"Of course it is," Ragna groaned as he forced himself out of bed, a harsher effort than he'd would've liked to admit. Rising up and heading for the door he found Blake… but she didn't look like her regular sef. "Uh… _whoa_."

The Cat Faunus couldn't help but feel a surge of pride as she noticed that pink blush that was rising in Ragna's cheeks. It was certainly worth putting on makeup for their night out, though she was sure Ragna probably would have been fine had she had gone without it. She'd applied the slightest bite of blush to her face along with a light mascara and a few other basic cosmetics to brighten her best features. She'd changed out of her regular clothing as well, this time wearing a set that she'd picked up while the group had their shopping adventure with Coco. Instead of her regular white shorts and purple leggings, she now wore a pair of tight fitting black denim jeans that went down to her mid thighs and were then covered by a pair of brown leather boots. On top she wore a white button up shirt with the top few buttons left undone. She wore a dark purple short sleeved jacket over that, her personal insignia added to both of the outfit's shoulders. She'd also added a black bow to her hair, but no instead of using it to cover up her ears it sat aside her left one and only added to her charm.

'_Ragna's completely speechless,'_ Noel thought to herself, unable to keep a small giggle from escaping her lips. That managed to break Ragna out of his daze as he turned to glare at her, but for once Noel didn't seem to care. "You look great Blake. What's the occasion?"

"...You mean that you didn't tell them?" Blake questioned her date, who she noted looked far from 'date ready.'

"Uhhhh…" Ragna couldn't really comment as he scratched the back of his head. Right about now Blake's earlier doubts were starting to return about whether Ragna had sent the message in the first place. Bracing herself for the worst, she took her scroll out and turned to their conversation, giving this one final chance to play out.

"You're the one that invited me out, remember?" she said as she showed Ragna the message. The Reaper only stared intently at the message, remembering when she had responded during yesterday's sparring and he hadn't thought much of it. Now that decision to let it go was going to come back and bite them both in the ass…

"Look Blake, I-"

"Of course you can't expect him to remember, did you see how many assignments he had to finish in a last minute panic last quarter?" Tsubaki chimed in, stopping Ragna cold as she read over the message. "You'll have to excuse him, he's been having a hard time keeping himself together during _Project Hell._"

"Now wait just a damn minute!" he interjected.

"Two seconds ago you were face down in bed unable to move, I think you've already proved my point," his partner said, not letting him have any say in it. Turning to Blake, she gave her an apologetic smile. "We'll have him out for you soon, could you wait in the lobby for just a second?"

"What the…" the Reaper could barely protest. Glancing back to Blake, he realized how expectantly she was looking at him and his rigid defense crumbled. "Yeah… I… I'll see you out there… sorry about that…"

"Sure thing," she said in response as Tsubaki closed the door. She was far from convinced that Ragna really had wanted to send the message… but why on earth would Tsubaki of all people be trying to convince him that he'd sent it? It didn't make sense… but that was neither here nor there now. Heading for the lobby, Blake tried to keep an open mind about the night ahead of her.

"Okay then, what the GOD DAMN HELL WAS THAT!?" Ragna demanded as he scowled scathingly at Tsubaki. "This is none of your business!"

"You saw how she'd prepared for a night out for the both of you, your awestruck silence was proof enough of that," she informed him with a scowl of her own, not backing down. "Were you really going to break her heart and cancel your plans after she went to such lengths?"

"I didn't send the damn message!" he yelled in protest. "Someone set us up."

"If that really is the case you're entitled to be angry about it, but don't take it out on her," Tsubaki tried again.

"So you're saying I gotta lie to her about it?" he argued back in protest.

"Of course not, but I've seen how you two are around each other. Do you really even want to turn her down in the first place?" Ragna didn't retort, only crossing his arms and continuing his pissed glare. "Like I said, you were face down and unable to move a minute ago, I think that after the week we've had we can all stand to have some fun while we have the chance. Did you already have plans tonight?"

"I mean… Cinder was probably going to drag me off for more project research," Ragna admitted, realizing what this choice meant. If he didn't take the chance to have a night out with Blake, he would probably be stuck with Cinder and after the week he'd already had... "But you can't deny that she deserves to know the truth."

"Then you can obviously tell her, in fact I think that you should absolutely let her know what's going on," Tsubaki agreed with him. "But what I would recommend doing is letting her know after you two are done with your date, that way it's not on her mind all night. You're being honest while getting what both you want, so I don't see any downside."

Ragna couldn't come up with an easy argument against that, try as he might.

"I'm with Tsubaki here," Noel told him, though the two still hardly spoke to each other. "Maybe you both could use something like this."

Sighing at her advice, Ragna then turned to Azrael and wondered if anything he said could get him a better way out of this.

"Don't look at me; for all I care the two of you can go out and get laid tonight."

...Or just make things _very_ awkward.

"Maybe don't go that far," Tsubaki suggested.

"Wasn't planning to," the Reaper assured with a sigh. "Fine, I'll play along with whoever the hell set this thing up."

"Good, but you're not going out like that," Tsubaki told him as she pointed to his usual attire. "She made the effort of making sure that she looked nice for you, you need to do the same. Pick out another set of clothes and take a shower. Be quick about it; she's already waiting on you."

"Oi oi, I'm going. It's not like I knew I had plans until a minute ago."

With the Reaper well on his way to quickly preparing himself for an evening out (and mentally readying himself for the chaos that might spark), Tsubak took out her scroll and began typing out a message.

"You seem pretty invested on getting him out on this date," Azrael noted with a tad of due suspicion. "Didn't seem to give a damn on way or the other last quarter, so why start butting into his love life now?"

"I'm not butting in, I'm just making sure no one's heartbroken by the end of this," she said as she finished typing out the remainder of her message. '_They're both on their way out, but Ragna knows that someone's setting him up. It's pretty clear that Blake is suspecting something too, but I'm not going any further here… You owe me for this one, Makoto._'

_Later -Inside Vale-_

"At long last we finally managed to find a time where we all could leave our worries behind at the academy and explore this city's sense of fashion at our leisure," a rather excited Doctor Litchi-Faye Ling declared as she walked through the town with Coco Adel and a nervous Velvet Scarlatina following closely behind. "You two have been busy lately, what with Coco managing a team along with Velvet's… was it stomach aches or migraines, dear? You never really clarified."

"Oh, uh… a little of this, a little of that…" Velvet told her nervously, knowing that if Litchi wanted to she could use her position as doctor to request a thorough exam and see that she'd been lying. Try as she might, the best she had managed was to hold the fashion trip off for a short time. Litchi and Coco were quite vocal that they needed her to come along as their model… whatever that was going to lead to Velvet into.

"Let's hope you can find _something_ I missed," Coco said with her usual snappy attitude. "I tried hitting one of the largest shopping destinations over the break and I barely found a thing that sparked any interest. If it wasn't for the canvases I found that trip would have become completely pointless."

"Canvasses? You mean like dear Velvet here?" the doctor asked, only reminding the Rabbit Faunus of her unwilling role here and what awaited her (not that she'd been able to forget in the first place). "Tell me, who did you get to model for you?"

"An all girls group called Team _RWBY_ and a very close friend of theirs who leads his own team," Coco said, thinking about a week to memories that even she admitted had a hint of fondness behind them. "If memory serves, the girls were trying to get their friend set up with a proper wardrobe since he's only ever been seen wearing that one outfit and barely even wore his _Beacon Academy_ uniform. I mean they were shopping for themselves while we were out of course, but he was the bigger problem that day."

"Sounds like an easy way to wear out style, which is an especially large problem if that's your iconic look," Litchi had to agree.

"Right? So I did them all a favor and gave them my best fashion tips. I'm not saying that any of them were looking bad in what they already had on, but by the end of it every last one of them would be the center of attention in any room," the young Fashionista boasted proudly.

'_Some of those later outfits especially,'_ even Velvet had to admit, though she didn't say anything.

"Sounds like you've already had a perfect fashion day with them; I'll just have to hope this outing with the three of us turns just as fruitful," the doctor said, smiling as these girls were starting to remind her of the great adventures she had during her academy days.

"It was _almost_ perfect, there was only one problem. The guy who was the main reason the girls were out in the first place and the main focus of my talents? He's not even wearing the clothes that I went out of my way to find for him; instead he goes straight back to that red jacket that he was wearing in the first place!" While Litchi had yet to meet Team _RWBY_, Coco's comment about a jacket instantly told her who the boy was. "Then again I already knew about his reputation, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised."

'_I feel sorry for her, but I'm also a little jealous that Ragna can stick to his guns so easily,'_ Velvet thought silently to herself before glance down one of the streets. She was about to continue following the other girls (not entirely of her own will), but stopped to do a double take. "Uh, Coco? I think you're allowed to be surprised now."

"What are you talking a… bout?" Coco finished as she flipped down her darkened glasses, her mouth hanging slightly ajar as she looked ahead. "What the-?"

Her eyes landed on Ragna, wearing an outfit that was very much out of the ordinary for him. Out of all his usual equipment, the only thing that the Reaper had left was the gloves he wore on both hands. He had on a red, long-sleeved, tucked red dress shirt with bright yellow buttons down the center, though most of them were covered by the slim white tie that he also wore. While Coco has focused on finding clothes that were the right side for him, the shirt was certainly on the snug side as it gripped and highlighted parts of the Reaper's well toned body. Instead of his usually baggy black hakama pants he was now wearing a set of much slimmer black slacks along with a dark leather belt though the metal buckle was a bright yellow. He was also wearing some sharp black dress shoes and while his hair style hadn't been changed, it did look like it had been tended to… almost like it was put together a bit more intentionally this time. She then looked to Blake in her outfit and could only come to one conclusion.

"Oh my, he never told me that he was dating type," Litchi noted, easily able to see what was going on here. '_And here I thought he didn't understand romance.'_

"I… I didn't think that Blake was the type either," Velvet commented. In truth she had asked Blake about her relationship with Ragna a short bit ago (she'd been far less pushy than Nora) and had been told that all there was between the two was a strong friendship. She had believed her back when she'd said it, but looking at them now… they seemed to be standing closer than they needed to be.

"Ladies, I think there's been a change of plans," the Doctor commented, the smile on her face suggesting something scandalous. "I think our shopping can wait for today; this development here might turn out to be the more interesting story."

'_She's suggesting we stalk them?'_ Velvet thought to herself in awe.

"And after all the time it took to find a night when all three of us were available," Coco sighed. True she was a little disappointed, but even she could admit that not knowing first hand what would happen with those two. Especially now that she'd seen what they were wearing. "Then again, I think it'd be harder for those two to find another night to do this, especially since the First Years are in project hell."

"Glad to hear you're seeing things my way," Litchi said, almost as a proud mother would.

"W-Well I think that this is a terrible idea!" Velvet interjected, somehow finding the courage to finally speak her mind. "This isn't any of our business and I think that they both deserve their privacy tonight! We should leave them be!"

"...She has a point," Litchi before turning to Coco and giving her a mild shrug. "Oh well, back to our original plan." The Rabbit Faunus felt her blood go cold, despite how overbearingly warm the Doctor's smile was. "Since you're so invested in our shopping trip I'll have to be sure to find just the cutest outfits for you to try on! You'll look completely Kawaii when I'm finished with you!" Horrified, Velvet turned her attention back to Coco.. who seemed like she could honestly go either way, leaving the decision solely at her feet.

"...Maybe I am a little curious," Velvet offered weakly. "I… guess we can tail them… for a bit?"

"Interested in spying on that couple are we?"

"AIIIIIIIYYEEEE!" Velvet screamed, nearly jumping out of her skin. "I wasn't trying to- I didn't mean to- We weren't-!"

"Cause if you are, there's already a line."

"Huh?"

Finally calming herself to see who she was talking to, she easily recognized a Squirrel Faunus and an orange haired girl wearing pitchblack sunglasses and black hooded trenchcoats.

"Those outfits look atrocious on you," Coco informed with a twinge of disgust.

"They'll do their job, now make sure that you all stay out of sight!" Nora ordered. "The plan's ruined if we're spotted so we need to stick to the shadows while we watch them."

'_They talk about this like we're on some kind of stealth mission,'_ Velvet sighed to herself before she glanced at Makoto's giant fluffy tail. '_...With an unfortunate handicap.'_

_Meanwhile -With Ragna and Blake-_

'_Come on coward, you two are on a date and you haven't said a damn word to her since you've left the lobby,'_ Ragna belittled himself in his head as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do here. '_Tsubaki was saying how much Blake was dressing up for this, maybe I'm supposed to start there?'_ "You look really great now, you know that?"

'_...Even when we're on a date, Ragna's still as blunt as he usually is,'_ Blake thought to herself, but she knew too well who she was dealing with and only smiled. "Coco was pretty adamant that I have something to wear when I wanted to go out, so it'd be a waste if I didn't go in this outfit now." She then gave her date something of a flirty smirk. "You're not disappointed that I'm not wearing that evening gown, are you?"

"Not really; the goal was for the two of us to have an awesome time, not make every guy want to put a knife in my back," Ragna countered with his own smirk. He managed to get a laugh out of Blake.

"You have the weirdest way of giving someone a compliment, you know that?" she questioned. Ragna only gave her a modest shrug. "So, what's first for tonight?"

"Depends on if you're up for eating now or want to hold off for later," Ragna told her. "Also what you're in the mood for having. Don't want to be an ass and assume, buuuuut I'm guessing something with fish?"

"You know that's not an assumption, you know me too well for that," the Cat Faunus agreed. "I'll let you choose where we'll eat. Just don't feel like you need to spend too much… I mean, were you planning to pay?"

"...It's a date isn't it; kinda feel like that's what I'm supposed to do," he told her before chuckling. "Don't worry about it, I got cash on me."

"Even after all those clothes we made you purchase?" Blake asked. "...I think in hindsight we all went pretty overboard."

"Now you admit it," Ragna replied with an eyeroll. "But yeah, I still got money on me… and I guess I can't seem to complain too much with the results." He'd added that last part in with a chuckle as he glanced down at his own clothes.

"You look good in them," Blake said, now having her turn to compliment Ragna on his attire. "Though…"

"You're not about to pull a Weiss on me, are you?" he asked, unconsciously readjusting his tie. His date only laughed in response. "Glad you can find it funny."

"I'm sorry, but I was going to tell you that you look better in that jacket you usually wear," she explained, smiling innocently.

"Even with all the crap you all give me about wearing it so often?" Ragna countered with an admittedly annoyed smirk.

"Even then," Blake assured him, patting him on the shoulder. "But… it's nice to see you made the effort for tonight." '_I'm still not convinced that Ragna invited me out… but I guess that might not even matter.'_

_Fortunes of the Depth Restaurant and Cafe_

"Welcome, table for two?" the middle aged Coyote faunus host asked as he stood with a welcoming smile, dressed in his waiter's uniform. At Ragna's nod he grabbed two from behind the desk. "If sir and madame will follow me?"

As Blake walked with Ragna she could see that this restaurant was far from an exclusive five stars establishment, but it was hardly for you'd call casual dining. Instead with it's pleasant decor, decent portions, and specialty dishes, one could see that it fit comfortably at the center. The restaurant was about half filled with guests since it was still early for dinner. They were a mix of both humans and fauni, ever more evidence that Ragna had specifically chosen this restaurant to cater to Blake's needs. The host lead them over to a window side table with a fantastic view of the streets as the sun began slowly set overhead.

"Your waiter will be with you both shortly, would either of you like something to drink aside from water?"

"Yeah, I'll take a cup of coffee thanks," Ragna told their waiter.

"Of course sir, we just happen to have a specialty house blend made from coffee beans found exclusively in Vacuo's southern territories."

"You mean _Silphal Bean_?" the Reaper asked, almost sounding impressed.

"You know your coffee beans sir, that's exactly the type we're offering. How would you like it prepared?"

"Strong and black." If Ragna hadn't said that with such a straight face, Blake might've thought that he was flirting.

"And for the young lady?" their waiter asked.

"I'll have a cup as well, but with cream… also could you please make mine decaf?"

"Of course, I'll have your waiter bring your cups of coffee when he comes for your orders. Our special tonight is honey lemon glazed salmon with sides of steamed asparagus and rosemary roasted potatoes, but feel free to look over your menus to decide what you're in the mood for this fine evening." With a short courteous bow, their waiter left to man the lobby's fair desk… though he was a little startled to find five ladies all wearing sunglasses and trench coats waiting for him.

"Um…" he tried to say before the tallest one slipped him a few Lien and explained what they wanted. "...The best I can give you is a booth table off to the side, but I'm afraid you'll still have to order something."

"That's perfect for us, but not a word of this to them," Litchi demanded.

Back with the two, things stayed a bit more… normal.

"I'm pretty sure I already know what I want; that special almost caught me off guard," Blake said, though she gave the menu a quick look over if only out of curiosity.

"Probably same for me, but what I really need is that cup of coffee," Ragna told her as he only gave his a passing glance before setting it down. "Not saying you're bad company, but without it I'm pretty sure I'd fall asleep before the night's over."

"We… haven't seen much of you aside from what happened with Yang. Has Cinder been keeping you busy?" Blake asked, not able to mask the concern her words carried.

"Of course she has, you think I'm trying to avoid you all on purpose?" Ragna asked rhetorically with a groan. "It's… been kinda tough, but I guess her idea from work is if we do as much as possible now there's going to be less to do down the road."

"I think what she's doing is pretty severe, we haven't even been seeing you at mealtime," Blake sighed. She suspected the only reason she'd managed to see Ragna a few days ago at the library was because he'd been assigned his duty to work there by _Goodwitch_. If Cinder had her way, Blake suspected that she'd have never allowed the two to see each other even as briefly as they had talked. "Have you had any downtime to yourself?"

"A bit; Ren and I were actually in a bit of a sparring match when you texted me back. First time I haven't either been in a lecture, researching one of my projects, or passed out exhausted… but hey, things are probably going to start lightening up in a little bit. Her constant need to work on the project can't last forever, eventually she's going to find a point where we can't possibly work any further ahead and she'll have to give me some time off."

"Looking forward to that day." ...Blake hadn't given him a question, it was her own statement.

"Do you have a problem with me spending so much time with her?" Ragna asked.

"Not exactly, it's just…" the cat Faunus hesitated. "I just think that there are better people for you to spend that time with, some people that you won't cause you to become exhausted just by being around them."

"I'll drink to that," Ragna told her before glancing over his shoulder. "Seriously I will; I need that coffee before I pass out." His somewhat corny display at comedy desperation forced Blake into a small giggle. Seeing her able to laugh like this… maybe this date idea was better than he thought.

_After the meal_

"Didn't want to stay for dessert?" Ragna asked as the two headed out the restaurant, both were very satisfied with their meals and the coffee had provided the Reaper with the perfect pick-me-up to get through the rest of the night.

"I didn't see anything on their dessert menu that interested me, but if you wanted to stop somewhere later I could definitely go for a small treat," Blake promised him. "Did you want to grab something else now?"

"I was thinking we'd walk around first before looking for something. 'That work for you?" Blake nodded, still a little stuffed from dinner. "Great, so since I got pick out where we ate dinner, how about you decide where we're headed next?"

"Let's see… there was a bookstore that I wanted to try shopping at. Maybe we could stop by there for a bit?" she suggested. "I'm not sure why, but my usual place was shut down right before the quarter started and I've been looking for somewhere else to go. I know it's not the most interesting, but-"

"Save it; I already know how much you love your books and it's not like you're going to bore me by taking us there for a bit," he interrupted, stopping Blake's apology there. "You know where it is?"

"Just a couple of streets down this way," she directed as the two turned onto the proper street. "Now that I think about it, you've never really told me what it is you like to read."

"Must be because I haven't picked up a book just to enjoy it for… _years_." The look of terror on Blake's face told Ragna that she believed him, but she wasn't taking it well. "Don't get me wrong, I was actually doing a lot of reading when I was with my teacher out in the wilds. The problem was that I only ever read books related to Semblances and Souls… all of them written by Relius Clover."

"What about books teaching survival, _Grimm Hunting_, even cooking?" Blake demanded, feeling that there must be a reason his skills were as good now as they were.

"Explicitly forbidden by my teacher, I wasn't allowed to learn anything about them that he wasn't already teaching me. I think the only reason he let me read Relius's books in the first place was because teaching about Semblances wasn't his strongest suit. That and he didn't want me to somehow forget how to read."

"Given how much he was forbidding you to do, I can see why he was worried," she told him, though it was clear that she wasn't blaming Ragna. "But if you started off by reading Relius's books, does that mean that you understood them even as young as you were?"

"You kidding? The first time I tried reading one I couldn't make sense of two words in one of those damn things," Ragna told her. "After a while, I learned that the best way to understand his thinking was to look at what he was suggesting in just about the most ridiculous way you could and work your way back bit by bit… though I usually didn't have to go that far back."

"With the stories that we've heard about him, I can understand why," Blake agreed. "What about before that?" Her date seemed to hesitate as he thought back, leaving her to worry that she might've said something to make him uncomfortable. The past seemed to be a difficult subject for both of them to discuss.

"I mean I had to learn how to read somewhere, so I guess that my caretaker must've taught me while I was little. Don't remember much of that though… I do remember reading to Jin a couple of times; he used to keep me up all night begging to hear another story of some brave hero."

"Jin did?" Blake asked.

"You'd be surprised, he was actually pretty sweet as a runt," Ragna told her with a nostalgic smirk. "Past that though I can't really say there's much that I'd _like_ to read; all the more reason to go and find out I guess."

"All the more reason," Blake repeated in agreement.

_Shortly -Remnant's Finest Pages-_

"So?"

"I'm only on my third recipe in this cookbook and I've already seen over a dozen changes I'd make at a glance," Ragna told her with a sigh as he reshelved the product he'd been looking at. "Fantasy novels ain't cutting it for me either, and those self help books just felt insulting."

"...You realize I didn't make you look at that last one, right?"

"I know, I know, but I'm supposed to be trying everything here, won't know if I find something to stick unless I get a good look at everything," he finished with a sigh. "What about you? You haven't looked at too many books yourself."

"I'm just browsing," Blake told him, though Ragna could see she was a touch more reserved. "What's next?"

"...I mean there's always the romance section," the Reaper suggested slyly, only for Blake to scowl. "Come on it's me, I already know the kind of books you're hiding from the others."

"And I still have no idea how you managed to find those the one time I left them out," she told him, her yellow eyes in a scathing glare though Ragna didn't seem to mind. "And we're not going there."

"Eh, you can do what you want but I've been seeing you glance that way since we got here," Ragna said as he started heading for that very section.

"What are you doing!?" she hissed at him, trying to keep it under her breath.

"So sue me, I'm curious," he told her as he walked into the section and started checking around based on titles. Though Ragna was only a short way into the section, Blake kept herself just outside in her stubbornness. "Let's see here… _Of Rough Hunting and Smooth Loving._ Sounds smutty."

"You'd be surprised, that author takes around a half book before you get to any scene with even a hint of romantic tension. I can appreciate all the set up work she does and how she tries to flush out all of the characters, but waiting so long for something to develop is almost infuriating. In one of her series it was three whole books before even a married couple so much as kissed and-"

Blake froze as she realized that Ragna was staring at her in amazement, causing her face to immediately turn crimson and quickly turning so that she wouldn't have to look him in the eye. Scratching the back of his head, Ragna kept looking.

"Alright… let's say that I'm trying to figure out if this type of book is right for me? Any classics that you could recommend so I'd know that much?" He then gave a small chuckle. "Or better yet, any favorites?"

"I… I guess I've one or two books back in my room that I could let you borrow," she promised. "But if you want to get started, maybe by this author. He's pretty tame when it comes to hia more heated scenes, but you can usually follow along well enough with the emotion. His settings are-"

As Blake continued to give a miniature lecture, neither of them seemed to realize that someone was eavesdropping on them a few aisles down. Make a group of someones.

"Wow, she's really going into detail," Velvet commented, having the best hearing out of anyone else there. "I... didn't know she was so passionate about romance books."

"I guess everyone needs a hobby, but how did she get hooked on those things in the first place?" Coco had to ask.

"You… might be able to lie some of the blame for that at my feet," Makoto admitted. "Way back when, Blake and I along with a friend of ours sort of had our own little book club… I sort of tried to bring in a romance novel as a joke, but the three of us kind of got hooked as a result. I outgrew 'em after a while, but I can see Blake never did."

"So are they any good?" Nora asked innocently.

"And do the girls in them have any form fitting outfits that stand out?" Litchi of course had to know.

"Boy oh boy, where to begin?"

_Later_

"Feel like kind of a dick since we spent all that time in there and I didn't end up buying anything," Ragna admitted as the two headed out of their second stop.

"Don't worry about it, I'm pretty sure I bought enough books for the both of us," Blake assured him, having spent a little of her own money on the purchase as she carried the paper bag holding the most recent addition to her collection. "Besides, you don't have your own room anymore. You'd have to find a good place to hide them to keep your team from finding any of them. Or you could just try the library again."

"Ugh, I'm already in there enough with these damn projects. Any more time in there and I might as well just move in," he countered, leaving Blake to smirk before sniffing at the air. "What is it?"

"Something smells good, something sweet with cinnamon," she said, trying to find where it was coming from. Eventually her eyes landed on a small shop selling- "Crêpes."

"Huh, never actually had one of those. Want to try one for dessert?" Ragna offered.

"That sounds pretty good, let's go for it," Blake agreed, the aroma making this an easy sell for her. There were plenty of people waiting in line ahead of them, but thankfully the shop was decently fast at putting orders out. "Two of your classics, with the works please."

"Of course, I'll have those out for you both in just a minute," the worker said as she began making the Crêpes in front of them, humming a company jingle as she made them. Shortly the two had paid and were headed off with a Crêpe made for each of them.

"...Miss Litchi, do you think you could pick up a Crêpe for me while I tail them?" Makoto begged.

"Oh no dear, I'm far too invested to stop for even a minute now," Litchi explained as she peaked around the corner. "You'll have to get one yourself, and maybe one for me if you're kind enough."

"I can pick a few up," Velvet offered as she opened her purse to get money, only to have something inside catch Nora's eyes.

"You've had that this entire time and you haven't been using it!" she hissed with annoyance.

"I-I mean-! If I did it'd be too obvious!" she tried to protest.

"That's no excuse, we need you here," Coco said, trying to boost her teammate's confidence. "You're the only one capable of this task, all lies upon you."

"O-Okay?"

Back with Ragna and Blake, the two were walking down the street right as Ragna tried taking a large bite out of his treat. He admitted that he enjoyed the taste and it offered a warm feeling on the slightly chilly night, but could do without getting the whipped cream all over his face.

"Damn it…" Blake couldn't help but laugh a bit as she caught sight of his face. "I've said this to you before; glad you find it funny."

"I'm sorry, but if we had a mirror you'd laugh too," the Cat Faunus apologized before taking a napkin and starting to wipe Ragna's face off, a move that obviously surprised him.

"Uh…"

"I mean, you just had it everywhere," she explained though blushing slightly as she realized what she'd done. Trying to get her mind off of it, she took a small bite of her Crêpe without realizing she was squeezing it too hard and got quite a bit of whipped cream on her own face. She was about to wipe it off, but then saw Ragna was about to do it for her.

"I mean…" He seemed hesitant. "I'm just returning the favor." Though she remained blushing slightly, Blake didn't protest as he reached over and gingerly removed the cream with his napkin. Both were too focused on what was right in front of their eyes that they didn't notice the obvious camera flashes going off in the distance.

In the end, neither were able to finish the Crêpes that Ragna had paid for. It wasn't because they'd already eaten too much, more that both were a bit more nervous about dirtying their face again and starting the whole thing over. With that awkward turn finished for the night, Ragna and Blake were in silent agreement to start heading back for the Academy. It was sort of a sour note to end the night on, but they both figured they'd get over that. Heading down the streets, the passed by a small roadside flower shop.

"Thanks, come again," a lamb Faunus said as she took payment from a customer purchasing a bouquet of crimson roses. She gave a parting smile at the business before looking at the two date goers. "Blake! What brings you out into town?"

"Hey Ariel, not… not much," she said uncertainty, but the lamb Faunus seemed to be picking up on the signals rather quickly.

"Not much? From the looks of things I'd say that you're out and about on a little date," she said with a smile on her face. Those tailing the couple in secret contemplated whether they'd have a new member added to their ranks by the end of the night. "So who's your friend?"

"Ragna; we're both the same year at _Beacon_," he explained, honestly wanting to get back to the Academy before things turned more awkward for them.

"Wow, you really are amazing," Ariel said in admiration. "Not only are you fighting to support Faunus rights and equality, but you're also dating a human to get the message across."

"Th-those two things have nothing to do with each other," Blake told the lamb, though Ragna silently admitted he might've been a little peeved had that been the case. "Besides, we're not dating! This… this… this is…"

"Just a time two friends decided to head into town for the night," Ragna finished for her. Blake was admittedly thankful that he saw eye to eye with her… at least she thought he did. "...How do you two know each other anyways?"

"She helped out a while back. There was a small gang of Academy students in town always making a mess of my stand and harassing anyone that shopped here. I tried going to the police, but they were certainly no help…"

"I've noticed," the Reaper added bluntly, thinking back to the time Blake and Makoto had been profiled.

"So I was honestly about to quit my job selling for my own safety, but Blake here convinced me to keep going. Apparently those students didn't get off too easily for what they were doing." She smiled gratefully to the Cat. "You helped in a big way, I still don't know how I'm going to pay you back."

"It's not a problem, they were always causing that sort of trouble back at the _Academy_ anyways; this was just something that I could use to show that," Blake admitted, playing it cool.

"...Is that right?" Ragna asked before giving another look over the flower. "Are those-?"

"Black Tulips; still a very rare flower," Ariel told him with a pride filled smile. "They're still not completely black yet and have a bit of purple in them, but they're still a sight to behold. I don't have too many of these left to sell since I only got them through a very rare deal." She smirked as she noticed how intensely Ragna was staring at them. "Are you interested?"

"...I'll take a bouquet of them for the lady," he decided, taking out his wallet.

"R-Ragna!" Blake exclaimed. Even though she couldn't see it, most of the observing crowd was smiling from ear to ear. "I-I think you've already spent enough for one night! There's no need for you to go this far!"

"Maybe, but at least for a bit I think you should have some sort of reminder for tonight," he told her while Ariel took the payment and began preparing the bouquet. "Also call it thanks; you didn't have to force yourself to come out with me."

"I-I'm not…"

"You kinda are," he told her with a smirk. "But... I guess I can live with that."

'_Wha… What am I doing?'_ Blake thought as she took the flowers from Ariel. Her face wasn't flushed… it was too pale for that.

_Later -Vale Park: Central Fountain-_

"Damn, think that coffee's finally starting to wear off," Ragna groaned as he fought back a yawn. It was getting dark out and the two had decided to take a shortcut to the _Academy_ through the park. While the fountain was still going, the area was empty save for the two of them (and the onlookers in the bushes) leaving only a bit of lighting from the nearby lamps. "So… got your excuse ready?"

"My… excuse?" Blake repeated, not sure where Ragna was going but not liking his choice of words.

"For your team. You know, why on earth you were out in town so late and they couldn't find me anywhere?" He only smirked as usual. "Sorry, just got the feeling that you didn't tell them about this."

"...You've really got me figured out then," she admitted with a sigh.

"Course I'm not exactly helping, now you've got flowers to explain too," the Reaper admitted.

"I can… probably just say they were a gift for saving Ariel's stall. There's a bit of truth to that, isn't there?"

"Come on, I got them for you cause I thought you'd like 'em. Sure, I sorta did that while thinking you were a total badass, but I usually do that anyways." His compliments were true, there was no flirting in his words… is what he tried to tell himself.

"Well thank you for them, I really appreciate what you've done for me tonight," she told him as she held the flowers closer. There was a bright moon overhead tonight, almost seeming to bounce of the Reaper's hair.

"Yeah, I had a great time too," he agreed. "...But are you alright with this? You…" His throat seemed to tighten, having trouble getting his words out. "You were fine after we started tonight, but ever since we left the bookstore you've been starting to act more reserved again, like you were back when we first met."

Blake didn't answer immediately.

"I… I know you didn't send me that text, I mean at least I mostly knew beforehand. But seeing your reaction back at the _Academy_, even if Tsubaki was pushing for this it's clear that you had no idea what was going on." Ragna was silent, he knew this would have to be discussed tonight… but damn him if it didn't sting. "You and I just both played along… I did it because I didn't want to hurt you if you had sent it."

At this point Ragna would have usually responded with a usual comeback. A _I'm made of tougher stuff than that_ or trying _Tch, you know me better than that_… not this time. This wasn't the time for that kind of bravado.

"And… and… the truth is…" Blake let out a long breath. "I'm… just not looking for that kind of relationship right now… and I don't know when I will be."

"...Yeah, I can understand that," Ragna said with a slow nod. By around now, the onlookers weren't as confident as they'd been a few minutes ago. "Thanks for being straight about it, I can always count on you for that."

"Please, you're saying that like I haven't been keeping secrets for the past few months," she reminded, smiling sadly.

"Secrets are fine with me, you know that," the Reaper responded, his voice staying almost eerily even.

"I guess I do, but can I ask you about something I don't know?" Again, Blake hesitated. "I… I said that I wasn't looking for that sort of a relationship, but what about you? Are you okay with that? And… what are you looking for?"

"I…" Ragna started to say, taking a deep breath himself before stiffening. And glaring, harshly.

"R-Ragna, I-?"

"We're not alone here," he growled darkly.

"Oh no," Velvet quivered.

"Busted," Makoto mouthed to Nora.

"Let's get out of here before-!"

Ragna then got between Blake and the path leading to the fountain, protectively putting his arm in front of his friend as his harsh eye glanced around the forest. He remained unblinking, gritting his teeth as his eyes focused on the darkened pathway leading to the fountain clearing.

"Get out here," he demanded, showing anger that was rare even for him. Eventually several different figures walked close enough to where the lanterns showed who they were. And at the front of that group was- "You…"

"Oh no, please both of you go on. I was _so_ enjoying the show, watching you both break each other's hearts," the lead woman at the front said. Ragna and Blake could easily recognize her; the one that had called Blake _a stray cat in heat_. Blake recognized everyone else she was with easily enough too; human elitists from the Academy. The type that would hang around people like Cardin's team… though they were oddly absent here. "You've got a debt to pay, _Grimm Reaper_."

"...What? Putting you through eight walls wasn't enough?" Ragna bit back, though he wasn't smirk at his words. The area began to slowly darken with mood as dark clouds overhead blocked out the moonlight. "How 'bout I send you through a building this time? That work?"

"You know have no idea what you did, I was almost expelled from the _Academy!_" she gripped her hand harshly. "I was in the upper echelon of Senior students my first two years, buy last quarter… Last quarter I was so bedridden that I couldn't even concentrate those last few days! You robbed me of that chance!"

"So? I actually had to work my punishment off on mop duty during those last two days," the Reaper told her, not impressed. "And you're trying to pin this one on me? I don't think you had to pick a fight with me you shithead. What gave you that bright idea?"

"Ask that freak of nature behind you!" she shouted as the seniors around her took their weapons out and started surrounding the two. "Back before miss uppity came along, the Faunus at the Academy knew their place. Maybe that idiot headmaster of ours was an obstacle, but we could whatever the hell we pleased. But then… but then she started fighting back!"

"I get it; your lot was the one that was terrorizing Ariel's stand," he decided.

"You mean that lamb slut? Yeah, and we were suspended when that black cat ratted on us," the girl told him, though none of her followers made a move at either of them. "Even I could see that she was sweet on you, so I tried getting a little aggressive with you both at the library."

"And you saw how that went, didn't you?" Ragna reminded again, the lights in the area starting to flicker.

"Of course… so this time we decided to be a little more direct! You need a proper beating, but her..." she glared evilly at Blake. "...I know people that have plans for her, and they involve an iron collar."

...The Reaper just smiled, not tauntingly, not a cocky one… just a plain smile.

"You're pathetic, worse than a worm."

"I wouldn't talk such a big game if I were you!" their attacker shouted. "You might be tough, but you've got no weapons, all of us are seniors, and you've got her to babysit." She gave an ugly sneer as she took out her bow and transformed it into a painful barbed whip. "Or are you too stubborn to see that!?"

"You're the one that's not seeing things," Ragna told her as the lamps continued to flicker. "You followed us out here because you knew no one else would be here, no would be able to call for help, no one would see what you're about to do."

"...Is he trying to signal us?" Nora whispered to Makoto and Litchi in panic.

"No wait, there's something else; hold on," Coco whispered back.

"Th-this is going too far," Velvet said with a tremble.

"You hit the nail on the head, congrats," the attacker said in response to Ragna's earlier comment, the lights around the area flickering madly now. "So what am I not-?"

In an instant all of the lamps were off, bathing the entire area in a deep darkness.

"...Seeing?" she finished in terror. She was frozen for a long moment before going for her scroll to give her light, only for the device to stay deactivated. "Wh-what is this!?"

"Remember reading about the Human-Faunus wars? You did have Oobleck's class, didn't you? Many of human's greatest defeats came either at night or in caves. They underestimated the Faunus's keen ability to see in the dark, and whenever that happened… **_it was a massacre._"**

"No…" Blake could see clearly through the darkness, she could see the dark aura around Ragna, she could see the threatening look in those heterochromia eyes of his… she didn't have to; even blind she could see his resemblance to _Adam Taurus._

"Y-YOU'RE NO FAUNUS EITHER!" the lead senior shouted frantically. "YOU CAN'T SEE IN THE DARK! YOU'RE BLIND LIKE US!"

_**"You think something like can actually stop me?"**_ Ragna's voice echoed throughout the area, seeming to come from every corner. It's tone had shifted to something unnatural, a nightmare far more horrible than any _Grimm_. _**"You're all terrified of darkness while I've lived most of my life in it. I can see that all of your weapons are shaking in your hands, three of you have already wet yourselves, and you… I can see all eight beads of sweat on your forehead."**_ The attacker was turning to the attacked, causing her confidence to dissolve further. _**"Make that twelve beads of sweat… coward. I can see all this easy… but you won't be able to see what I'll do to you."**_

"B-B-B-" she stuttered, gasping for air. "B-B-But if you attack us, then you'll-!"

_**"Nothing will happen to me. Like I said earlier; you all made sure that no one would be around, that no one could walk in, that no one would be the wiser…"**_ Somehow the darkness became stronger, deeper, so much so that even Blake could barely see. _**"And when I send you all to the void THERE WON'T BE ANYTHING LEFT OF YOU."**_

The seniors all fell to their knees, choking on their own breath in terror. Blake began taking a cautious step back from someone she thought was her friend… but was now proving himself as a terror of darkness, in some ways even worse than Adam. Her hands shakily went for her weapon, though she knew there was nothing there.

**_"But… it's not for me to say what's going down here,"_** Ragna said with a pause, turning to Blake in the dark. **_"Say the word…"_**

"...What?" Blake asked while the other students turned deathly still.

**_"These people are a threat to the Faunus, they'll probably never look at you as equals. If they'd had their way you might've been dead now or worse. Give me the word and they're all gone, wiped away like a stain… It's your call."_**

To Blake, it felt like she was talking to the Devil. Someone promising rewards of a dark future; and Ragna could do it if he wanted to. Wipe away these fools and anyone else who tried to silence the Faunus. And be better than Adam, much more dangerous. He could get into places that he wouldn't have been able to, and who would've suspected a human would be behind it? It'd be like it was before; she'd return to the role of a _Black Queen _to a _King of Shadows_.

"...No."

**_"...You wanna say that again?"_** Ragna wasn't requesting.

"...No... You're not going to go any further," she told him before glaring down at the seniors. There was no sign of hesitation or weakness when next she spoke. "I won't let you fall to their level."

The Reaper smiled harshly, a bright toothy smile that tore through the darkness. It was at that instant that the park lights suddenly returned, the clouds passing overheard stopped blocking out the moonlight, and suffocating darkness vanished like it was never there. That hadn't been a dream; the senior's soiled garnets, sweat covered brows, and terrified expressions were proof of that, but Ragna hadn't moved a step from when they tried to surround him.

"You know something?" he asked casually as he glanced up at the broken moon. "If I were you idiots, I'd thank my lucky stars that Blake isn't half as intolerant as you are, might've just saved your lives now." Turning his gaze back to them, his face was then the definition of a hellish rage. _"**Now get the fuck out of here before she changes her mind."**_

With many of them giving terrified screams, the Seniors then ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Who cared about a Faunus when the guy with her was a straight _monster_. When they were finally out of sight, Ragna let out a deep breath.

"...That was close," he muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"You almost lost control…" Blake said to him, still a terrified of her… friend?

"No I didn't, I had the timing down perfect," Ragna told her.

"Timing? In your threat delivery?" the Cat Faunus asked.

"Well I mean the clouds overhead were easy enough to time, but check your scroll real quick. You'll see what I'm talking about."

Glancing down at her scroll, Blake saw that it was 9:02 and there was a message sent to her phone.

_Thank you for complying with the Vale Electric Grid reset. Systems were quickly restored and mechanical alignment was quickly achieved. We apologize for any inconvenience or temporary loss of Scroll use due to discharge. On behalf of-_

"The reset? You… you timed it with that?" Blake asked as Ragna just gave a smirk and shrug.

"I mean yeah, I know I can be dark but do you really think I'm some kinda demon?"

"But you said you could see them in the dark!"

"And I can, partially, thanks to all my training in the wilderness," he explained. "I could easily see the weapons shaking, and the smell made it clear they'd soiled themselves from my earlier timing and intimidation. Sweatdrop guessing was just grandstanding, but I don't think she was together enough to tell the damn difference."

"...I'm not sure if I should think Ragna's really clever for this or if he's the world's largest asshole," Makoto commented from the bushes.

"I'm going firmly with both," Coco decided.

"Ditto," Nora chimed in.

"I mean…" Velvet started, though she couldn't finish.

"...Hmm," Litchi just seemed to hum to herself.

"You… THAT WAS A BLUFF!?" Blake demanded.

"No, I was making a point to both of you. As for that bitch, she needed to know that you could have killed her any chance you wanted. You'd never say that, you'd never want that, and you'd never make that clear. So I did, I made her think that you had the decision in your hands. With one word I could've ended them all there… but you didn't. You showed that you're better than them in so many more ways than just being moral… and I doubt they'll be bothering you or any Faunus after that."

"So you traumatized them for that? That's why?" Blake asked.

"No, I need you to learn something too. Those people were ready to hurt you, they were prepared to hurt you bad. It's not going to matter how much you're going to insist on unity, how much good you show the Faunus can do, how far the two races can develop… there are just going to be assholes like that, and they can't listen to a word of reason."

"I can see that, but what makes you so certain that they could never change? They're still in school even!" she demanded.

"Easy, 'cause I'm one of those assholes. Not on this, but my point still stands," the Grim Reaper explained. "You already know that there are some people that you just can't win over… but you also need to be alright with hurting 'em back. These guys were clearly extremists, but you can't just stay down to take their smack if they weren't as harsh. Staying down's only going to let that damn voice echo… trick is know when you're in the right and need to raise that hell."

"...You really think that's going to work?" she asked, Ragna's analogy was _also_ far from perfect, but…

"Positive, and it's the same with me," he said with a smirk. "Whole damn world could be against me, the four kingdoms could make me out to be the Devil himself… but even if I still had one or two friends like you who believed in me, I'd still be able to do what I had to."

"Ragna…" Blake said quietly.

"All the same, sorry for scaring you like that. And that our date ended up like this," he said before glancing up to the Academy. "We should start heading back."

"Y… You go on ahead," she told him. "I… I'll catch up."

"...Still terrified of me? I guess I can't really blame you; the master knew what he was doing a little too well when he taught me intimidation," he turned away. "I'll see you around if ya can still stomach that thought, might be busy though."

"Ragna, I-!" Blake couldn't help herself, she dropped the bouquet Ragna dropped for her and ran up behind the Reaper just stopping short behind him. "I… I'M SORRY."

"Sorry? Sorry for what? You didn't do anything," he asked as he glanced back to her.

"About… about us," she admitted. "I just… I don't… I mean… And you..."

"Oh that," he said taking a deep breath in before turning around. "Hey."

Blake looked up and saw his eyes, those kind eyes with a small gleam in their eyes. Reaching his hands forwards, Blake knew at once he was going for her ears. Not in the mood for fighting him this time, she let it happen as his hands…

Gently grabbed at the side of her head. She was practically frozen as Ragna slowly pulled her forward. He wasn't fondling her ears… he wasn't kissing her either… instead it was something else. Leaning his head down, he made their heads touch in a still intimate connection, but not exactly a romantic one; it was more so one of comradery, respect… trust.

"No matter what ends up happening, you deserve to be happy. And don't you dare forget that for a second," he whispered gently to her. "Promise me."

"I… promise." Blake could easily feel Ragna's heat dancing onto her from where they were connected and given her own state she was pretty sure he could feel hers just as easily. Letting go, Ragna gave her own last smile before heading off. "...Thank you."

"Anytime Blake, anytime…" he promised as he headed off. "But make sure you remember those friggin' flowers you just dropped, damn things were expensive."

"...If they were so expensive, you didn't have to buy them," she reminded, a smile once again form as she watched her friend depart.

"Well now you're stuck with 'em, might as well make them last!" he called back, his face in a rare truly happy smile. '_That… was actually pretty nice.'_ He then glanced at the bushes with a smirk. '_Guess I don't have to kick their asses tonight after all.'_

"That... THAT WAS IT!?" Nora demanded, the mace user well and truly enraged.

"Nora, calm down! Blake's going to find us!" Coco demanded as she tried to keep the mallet user's voice to a whisper.

"No! I'm with her!" Makoto also vented. "Those two are going to keep dodging around an issue like that when it's so painfully obvious what's really going on! They're just being too damn stubborn! I'm going to walk right over there and-!"

"I-It wouldn't work like that!" Velvet tried to reason as she held the fellow Faunus back, by some miracle Blake wasn't noticing all the rustling they were causing in the bushes. "You'd just be driving them further apart!"

"Ladies, ladies, you all just need to keep a level head here. Listen to your dear Auntie Litchi, someone with much more experience in this field," the only married woman commented as she looked over at Blake, walking back over to the flowers she'd dropped. "...She's not done here yet."

Slowly picking up her flowers, Blake looked at them for a long moment before setting them back down at the Fountain's edge. Try as she might, as absolutely as unfair as it was, as much as she knew better, there was still a big part of Ragna that had reminded her of Adam. A part that should he lose control, the damage he could inflict would ruin so many lives… including her own. He could lash out quickly, he could always stay on the attack, and even some of his better qualities reminded her of who she once loved but now feared.

But… she'd also seen past that. She'd actually seen the type of person he was deep down. The type that wouldn't give up on those he cared about, the one that would go out of his way in kindness and expect nothing in return. The man that while seemingly morally grey, held true to a few set beliefs even when they included bending the rules. And...

True as she tried not to, she thought back to _Grimm's Day_… the day she'd attacked out of panic and riddled him full of bullet holes. Had she done that to Adam, he would've exploded at her, maimed her, tried to kill her, and might not have even been in the wrong for doing so… Ragna didn't, he wouldn't. By some miracle he'd survived and the very first thing he'd done was make sure _she_ was alright, he'd made sure the girl that was supposed to be his friend and had just shot him was safe before worrying about himself. Not only that, he helped her reveal her deep secret of being a Faunus to her own team… something that had brought all of them closer together and removed her own cowardice at the idea of showing who she was.

So she didn't want to keep pushing him away, she didn't need to… but she knew that if she got hurt like this again… if there was something to Ragna that she wasn't seeing… some dark and depraved secret that he was hiding... but was there?

"I… Why should I have to worry about this anymore?" Blake said as she shook her head, walking away from the fountain and leaving the flowers behind. "I'm done with him…"

And…

…

…

…

…

...

...

...

1: For the ticket.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

2: For the show.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

3: On that note.

…

…

…

…

…

...

...

4: Here we go...

**(**Cue _**Disney's Hercules**_ _I Won't Say I'm In Love_**)**

_**Blake (walking with her back to the fountain and flowers)**_

If there's a prize for rotten judgement...

I guess I've already won that…

No man is worth the aggravaaaation...

**(Angrily stomps her boot) **

That's ancient history - been there, done that!

_**Nora, Makoto, Litchi, Coco, and Velvet (from high in the trees) **_

Who'd'ya think you're kiddin'?

He's the Earth and heaven to you!

Try to keep it hidden!

Honey, we can see right through you!

Girl, you can't conceal it!

We know how ya feel and who you're thiiiiiinking ooooooooooof!

_**Blake (parting her hands in denial)**_

No chance! No way!

I won't say it, no, no!

_**NMLCV (on their knees in choreographed dancing behind the fountain)**_

You swoon, you sigh, why deny it, uh-oh!

_**Blake (keeping her head down as she walked off)**_

It's too cliche!

I won't say I'm in loooooove!

_**Blake (glancing up at the broken moon as she walks around the fountain)**_

I thought my heart had learned its lesson,

It feels so good when you staaaart out,

My head is screaming get a grip, girl!

Unless you're dying to cry your heart out!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

_**NMLCV (The fountain then erupts in a water show and each of them is dancing on a corner different part)**_

You keep on denying,

Who you are and how you're feeling!

Baby, we're not buying,

Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling!

Face it like a grown-up,

When ya gonna own up?

That ya got, got, got it baaaaaaad!?

_**Blake (ignoring the flowers completely as she walks by them again)**_

No chance, no way,

I won't say it, no, no!

_**NMLCV (Looking down)**_

Give up, give in!

_**Nora (pointing to her ear-to-ear smile)**_

Check the grin, you're in love!

_**Blake (Facepalming)**_

This scene won't play!

I won't say I'm in loooooooooove!

_**NMLCV (Twirling atop and posing)**_

You're doin' flips read our lips!

You're in love!

_**Blake (angrily stomping away from the fountain)**_

You're way off base!

I won't say it!

Get off my case!

_**(slowly stopping and turning back)**_

I won't say it...

_**NMLCV (smiles grow as Blake walks back to the Black Tulips)**_

Girl, don't be proud,

It's O.K. you're in love….

_**Blake (finally takes the flowers in her arms and smiles)**_

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

At least out looooooud,

I won't say I'm in...

Looooooove…

_**(Holds the gift close to her, taking in the aroma with a happy blush... thinking only of the Reaper she's completely fallen for)**_

_HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!_


	10. I SHALL JUDGE YOU!

Contest Reward for EpicLinkSam

_**Extra 010: I Shall Judge You!**_

"...Can you stop glaring at me?" Ragna asked Tsubaki as the two walked through the hallways of _Beacon Academy._ "I don't know why the hell he wants to see us both this time."

"So you don't think you did anything to get in trouble _again_?" his partner demanded as she followed closely behind. "I bought you dinner last night, so I deserve an honest answer."

"Yeah? And I had to carry you back after you passed out while we were hunting. Your point is?" he countered. "Besides, when has Ozpin ever called me to his office to let me know I'm in trouble? If I was really getting punished, Goodwitch would have just given me a mop instead of sending us both to his office."

"That still leaves the issue of what he needs us for," Tsubaki signed as the two stood in front of the elevator that would take them up to the Headmaster's office. "You… don't think he'll try and get us to host another radio show, do you?"

"After the chaos the last one caused, he'd be crazy to try that a second time," Ragna grumbled as the doors opened. "Even still, I get the feeling that whatever he's got planned will end just as well."

"Meaning we'll likely be stuck on cleaning detail before I have to leave with the others for our vacation home," Tsubaki sighed as the two started their ride to the top.

"You do know that we don't _have _to say Yes?" Ragna reminded. "Let's just get this over with and start our effin' vacations, I can't wait to hit the sheets for a whole week."

"Please, at least try to be respectful around Ozpin. He is the headmaster of this Academy."

"He doesn't care what I have to say around him."

"But I do."

"...Fine," Ragna said, nodding in acceptance as the door finally opened. Stepping into Ozpin's office, the two found their Headmaster sitting behind his desk. A warm cup of tea in front of him along with two more at his desk's edge. "You wanted to see us?"

"Indeed. Please, have a seat." Taking the two chairs in front of his desk, they both grabbed the offered tea mugs. "Before I get to business I think congratulations are in order. Miss Yayoi, your papers and tests have already been graded and you're one of our highest scorers for the written exams. Mister Bloodedge, while your papers are still being graded I never imagined such a high kill count was possible in the _Grimm_ hunting exam, least of all by a first year student."

"Not too surprising, somebody recently told me that I understand Grimm better than I do people." Tsubaki didn't comment on the remark she'd made last night, mostly because she was still right.

"At least your skills at dealing with the latter seem to have improved since your start at the Academy. In fact, what I have in mind for you both is a bit of a… _social test_," Ozpin informed ominously. "Tell me Ragna, what do you know about cooking?"

"Only what my master taught me." '_And my mother, but that was long ago.'_ "What do you need to know that for?"

"Because I'm having _Beacon_ host a small cooking contest for the first year students," the headmaster explained. "I'm not going to have it be a large affair, it's partner based, and sign up is completely optional; I simply figured that since you've traveled the world for most of your life that you'd have a wide experience with food."

"It's more of a hobby for me than anything else, but I guess you could say I'm decently skilled," Ragna admitted. '_Didn't hurt I had one of the pickiest foodies I've ever met as a teacher.' _"But why bother making a show of bringing me up here? I would've heard about this one way or the other."

"Because I have something different in mind for you; I want you to be the judge." Ozpin noticed Ragna's hesitation at his request. "You don't want to?"

"Don't really think I'm qualified for this. Just because I can cook doesn't mean I'd be that good of a moderator for anyone else's food. You're better off asking someone like Goodwitch for this."

"Furthermore, there's the matter of his choice of words," Tsubaki added. "Even at the best of times Ragna has trouble keeping himself from swearing. I can't imagine that the faculty would appreciate a school event where the participants are constantly sworn at."

"On the contrary, that's exactly why he's the perfect candidate for this. There have been plenty of programs about food judges being a little… colorful in their criticism. I think that having Ragna as a judge would not only make the contest entertaining for onlookers, but the pressure would be on all the contestants to perform well in order to avoid being ridiculed by his harsh words."

"I mean I guess that sounds… fun?" Ragna said hesitantly. "But Tsubaki's got a point here, I doubt Goodwitch signed off on me swearing at the school's cooking and it's not like anyone else would willingly sign up for me to yell in there face." '_Not unless they have an unsettling fetish, but I don't want to deal with that either.'_

"That's where our mystery prize comes into play. The promise of a great reward is usually enough to draw hopefuls into these types of contests," Ozpin assured as he reached into his desk and took out what appeared to be a small remote with a few buttons. "As for controlling your swearing, I'm going to leave that to Miss Yayoi. All she'll have to do is press the red button on that remote and she'll be able to bleep out any of your more vulgar language to keep things… manageable."

"My own personal censor," Ragna summarized before smirking at the headmaster. "And Goodwitch didn't want this? With the shit between us, I figured this would be a wet dream for her."

"RAGNA!" Tsubaki shouted, scolding her partner for his crude language.

"We certainly considered having Glynda do this, but I felt that she might be a little extreme if given the chance to silence you. The whole event might've been just one long beeping noise."

"Wouldn't surprise me if she had done that," the Reaper admitted. "If there's free food in it for me I guess I'm in, but you know the kind of risk you're getting by putting me up to this? This could turn into a second radio show fiasco."

"Which is why I'm counting on the two of you for this to go well, though I'd rather you simply decide to have fun with the situation you're given. Make this have the natural _Beacon _charm and… we can afford a little light bruising."

"Sure, but you better get ready for when the ***BEEP*** hits the fan," Ragna said before glancing at Tsubaki who'd already taken hold of the remote and had censored her first swear. There seemed to be a new glow about her as she realized the power she now held over his words.

He made a mental note to break the device if she didn't hand it back to Ozpin after the contest.

**_The Contest_**

'_Damn it, and I thought my school uniform was stuffy,"_ Ragna muttered as he sat at the table set in the center of the auditorium's stage. Instead of his usual red coat or even a school uniform, Ozpin had provided him with a white chef's outfit, complete with a tied white apron. It had also come with a chef's hat, but Ragna's gravity defying hair wasn't letting him put that on. The top was at least a size smaller than it should have been, gripping Ragna painfully tight. As he went to unbutton his collar to give him a better chance at breathing, he heard Tsubaki cough and caught sight of the glare she was giving him.

"Chef, we've got our dish ready for your enjoyment!" the first pair of contestants said as they brought their dish forward. It was a male/female pairing that Ragna swore he'd seen around, but considering he hadn't bothered committing either to memory they like didn't have anything noteworthy between them in his eyes. The cocky looks on their faces made it clear that they thought their dish would be the one to take home the prize. "I present to you chicken wings in homemade Ursa sauce. I've also given you a side of bleu cheese sauce if that's your preferred way to have these."

'_Spicy deep fried food right out of the gates,'_ Ragna thought glumly to himself as he realized how hard this was going to be on his stomach. '_Dammit, why did Ozpin have to let everyone make whatever they wanted?'_ Deciding it would be best to get it over with, he picked up the chicken wing with his bare hands and took a small whiff. Judging by the scent alone, it was clear that they'd used too much paprika and thrown the balance of flavors off. Taking a small bite, his suspicions of the dish were confirmed immediately, along with a few other unfortunate discoveries.

"So, blown away by our cooking yet?" the girl asked, somehow even more haughty than Weiss had been when Ragna had first met her. Ragna said nothing at first, only putting down the unfinished wing onto the plate. "A-Aren't you going to try a second bite? Maybe with some of our bleu-"

"No need, after having just one bite of that garbage I'm already feeling pretty ***BEEP***ing blue!" Ragna shouted, again having Tsubaki come in to censor his swearing. "How in the ***BEEP*** did you think that would be okay to serve? The spices are gonna give my tongue a rash, the meat is dryer than bark, and the watery sauce makes the crust a soggy, warm sh-***BEEP***!"

"Wha-? I-! How dare you!" the male of the pair shouted. "You just can't appreciate the fine taste of a family recipe!"

"If you had to grow up on this then it's no wonder your taste buds are ***BEEP***ed," Ragna said as he pushed the dish away. "You're both out."

"You just don't know good cooking!" their partner shouted as she went for a bite on a separate chicken wing, only seeming to wince as she got a good bite out.

"You done? Clear the stage, I got other people to yell at," Ragna told the both as they bitterly departed. Despite the obvious murmerings from the crowd of onlookers, he couldn't help but smirk to himself. He'd gotten plenty of ridicule for his cooking from his own master, especially in his early day when he was just starting out. Being on this side for a change couldn't help but taste sweet... though his mouth honestly still stung a bit from the dish he'd just eaten.

"Wow, Ragna really isn't holding anything back here," Ruby said as she stirred the dough, staring up at the stage. "Still surprised Ozpin asked him to judge the contest. You think word of our barbecue night got around the school?"

"If it had, you'd think this would've just been a barbeque contest instead of a full on cooking competition," Weiss countered as she stirred the cream. "Hmm... heavier?"

"Yeah! And more sugar! I get the feeling that Ragna secretly likes sweet things!" the team leader proclaimed as she got a small tasting of the cake batter. "Ohhhh yeah! He's going to love this stuff!"

'_...Love seems too strong a word for this,'_ Weiss thought as Ragna had never really struck her as a dessert person. '_If either of us had any idea how to make Barbeque, Curry, or Udon this would've been easy for us. Now we're stuck making a dessert meant for children that he's probably never had in his life. Even if it has a few of my own special touches, it's not going to take much to get Ragna's favor over our food.'_

"YOU ***BEEP***S! YOU CAN'T EVEN MAKE CURRY WITHOUT PREMADE POWDER!?" came a rather violent shout from Ragna's direction as someone had tried to make one of his favorite foods in order to impress him. "AND YOU BOILED THE ***BEEP***ING POTATOES SO MUCH YOU CAN'T EVEN TAKE A FORKFUL UP WITHOUT IT FALLING APART!"

'_...On second thought, maybe it's best to make something that he isn't so familiar with,'_ Weiss realized. '_This way he won't be able to criticize every detail about what we make.'_

_**Further into the Contest**_

"God ***BEEP*** it! What kind of smoked salmon dish is this? The meat inside is ***BEEP***ing raw! Do you want me to eat raw meat!? Do you!?"

"Why do your tortilla chips already taste like they're stale! And your cheese isn't even melted all the way! This has to be the worst ***BEEP***ing plate of nachos I've ever seen!"

"_**WHERE'S THE LAMB SAUCE!?"**_

With his latest victims departing from the scene, Ragna gave an honest sigh. Swearing for the sake of making this review interesting might've been fun for him, but that didn't change the fact that most of the first years seriously had no idea how to cook. Out of everyone who'd brought him something to consume, only two or three had overall decent meals... though their few flaws were glaring enough to still warrant a swear filled rant from him. Shaking his head, he looked over the remaining crowd only to realize that he'd put himself into a corner. The remaining pairs were Noel and Azrael from his team, Makoto and Mai from _Haven_ Academy, and the entirety of teams _JACK, JNPR_ and _RWBY_; all people that he knew on more personal levels.

'_Shit, if I give any of them a win it's going to look like I'm just giving the prize to someone I know and playing favorites,_' he noted bitterly as he looked up at the stands. Though most of _Beacon_ had a pretty negative impression for Ragna, for whatever reason they loved watching him swear at their peers and their attempts at cooking. If he didn't hold that attitude here they likely wouldn't stay as pleased, nor would they take his judgement seriously. '_Dammit, this is going to be a problem... What the hell am I supposed to-?'_

_**SLAM!**_

Nearly leaping out of his own skin at the sheer force of the noise, he saw that his teammate Azrael had slammed down a heavy pot of something on the station in front of him while he'd been distracted. The _Mad Dog's_ partner Noel was standing behind him with a meek look on her face, still not used to being put on stage in front of the entire school.

'_I guess if Noel helped to make this I'll be able to find something wrong with it... and I'll be able to swear at them both to save face if I survive eating it.'_ He added that last part knowing full well the problems that Noel seemed to have with cooking and the double edged sword it presented here. "So what have you got for me?"

"Chili, and I sincerely hope that you're man enough to survive this," Azrael said as he scooped out a ladel's worth and placed it into a bowl. "Trust me, we've got a dish you won't be forgetting anytime soon."

'_If Noel helped make it, that's a pretty safe bet,'_ Ragna thought with some worry as he took a spoonful of the chili and examined it. '_That's weird, it... looks like actual food, even smells like Chili. And the taste is...'_

As soon as Ragna started to taste just his first bite, it felt like he'd been sucker punched in the gut. The thing was this wasn't a feeling of sickness or nausea that would usually be associated with Noel's cooking, rather this came about from the raw intensity of the dish's flavor. The hearty meat and spices created a purely brutal experience to get through, so brutal that Ragna doubted that a single normal person could even get through a single bite without passing out... didn't stop him from going in for a second tasting.

"...Pretty good," he said as his piece, which was of course met with murmurings from the crowd. "I'm getting a lot of different bits of gaminess. What kind of meat did the two of you use in this?"

"Yes." ...Knowing Azrael, Ragna should have figured as much.

"Either way, well done both of you," Ragna said. He'd expected that Noel would be relieved to find out that someone had actually enjoyed something that she'd made, but instead the young blonde looked passive at best. "What's wrong?"

"My uh... my dish didn't make it out," she admitted. "I'd tried making a coleslaw that would've been something light and refreshing to go with Azrael's chili, but it didn't get here."

"It didn't?" the Reaper asked before looking over to Mai and Makoto's table, only seeing the spear user with a guilty look on her face as her partner only sighed next to her. "Oh."

"Pretty sure that counts as a disqualification, eating another team's food before they bring it out and all," Azrael noted.

"I'll allow it, you both can head back to your station," Ragna told them. This was met by obvious murmerings from the crowd, not the least of which were discussing the Reaper's apparent bias. '_Dammit, I actually really liked that and I couldn't find it in me to say otherwise. Hopefully the next dish they bring out is-'_

"Oh cheeeeeeeef!" came Amane's singsong voice as he and Kagura approached with their dish; a steaming hot bowl of ramen.

'_God dammit! I'm trying to be bitter about your food here you assholes!'_ Ragna shouted in his head. '_Well just because they made this, it doesn't mean it's any good.'_

It WAS good though. The noodles were full yet still went down easy, the broth was full of flavor and perfectly complemented both the thin slices of pork and the egg that still had an unboiled yolk. Try as he might, Ragna couldn't find it in him to belittle their dish... no matter how much Kagura tended to piss him off.

"...Take a seat," he eventually said. His effort to seem harsh hadn't paid off as the crowd still seemed to take notice at the lack of belittling in his words. '_Come on, just give me someone to hate! ANYONE!'_

"I hope you're ready for something fresh!" came Yang's voice.

'_Dammit! Why does the whole universe seem to hate me?'_ Ragna thought bitterly as the energetic blonde and cat Fanus partner brought up a fresh sushi platter. "Of course, I should've guessed this would be something to do with fish. How'd you settle on sushi?"

"I heard from Ruby that Yang has trouble controlling anything controlling a flame while she's cooking, so I figured we'd better take that hazard away outright," Blake explained, leaving Yang to cross her arms only a little bitterly. "Aside from the soy sauce, everything there is handcrafted from the wasabi to the sticky rice."

"So get ready to eat up!" Yang told him. Ragna knew that he couldn't just give his friends a purposely bad review just to try and save his own face, so it would probably be better just to get this over with. Going for the chopsticks though, he saw they were snatched by Yang who grabbed one of the rolls and dipped in soy sauce before bringing it up to Ragna's mouth. "Say ahhhhh!"

"Yang we're in public, in front of the entire school even!" Balke shouted at her partner with a sharp blush on her face.

"Wait, does this mean that they'd do stuff like this in their private time?" a voice questioned from the stands. A swift glare from Ragna silenced the onlooker, but the damage had already been done by the question and the crowd turned into a sea of whispers.

"Really Yang?" Ragna had to ask as the blonde only gave him a flirty wink. Trying his damndest to move out of the corner she'd put him into, he snatched both the chopstick and the sushi out of her hands and chowed down. While sushi might've seemed like a simple enough dish to make and required only some intermediate assembly skills, the truth was that each element that went into it drastically impacted the greater whole and these girls had nailed each of them. The best cuts of fish, the fullest rice, the perfectly tight seaweed wrapping, the kick given by the wasabi, and of course everything was at peak freshness. "Huh, this sorta came outta left field for you two, but I can't complain about the results."

"Aw, if you're praising us so much I might start blushing," Yang told him. Ragna was really starting to wonder why she was flirting with him so hard in front of the entire school. "Maybe we can make this again sometime?"

"I'd like that," Blake admitted before smiling at Ragna as the two headed back to their seats.

'_And the crowd's suspicions grow, it's not their fault that those two know how to cook some damn good sushi,'_ he grumbled. '_And now we've got Nora and Ren with... breakfast?'_

"_Pancakes pancakes, piping hot~!  
Waste a single one, I'd rather not~!"_

"Breakfast and jingle then," Ragna said. The pancakes that these two had made him seemed like your everyday run of the mill breakfast, topped with maple syrup and thick creamy butter. While he'd enjoyed a good pancake himself while on the road especially on cold mornings, they never felt like anything more than a warm and filling comfort food. The pancake's thinner cousin the crepe would've probably been a better chance to show one's cooking prowess. "What made the two of you decide to make these in the first place?"

"My most favorite food in the whole world! Plus, Ren makes a really awesome stack of pancakes! I could eat these things all day!" Nora told him excitedly. "The butter's made fresh too and we got the sap for the syrup from the school trip we took during the year! Call this a little labor of love!"

"Alright then," Ragna complied, figuring it was just better that he drop the issue here. Cutting a piece off with his knife and bringing it up, he was glad to see that there wasn't so much syrup on them that they'd become a soggy mess. Taking a bite of what they made left him with the realization that he'd been making these things wrong for who knows how long. Its perfectly fluffy base texture mixed with ever so sweet syrup that Nora and Ren had added along with the slight cream of their own homemade butter made for a unique experience. In fact, it made Ragna feel like he'd just woken up and was now ready to face the day with fuel in his tank. "...No wonder you like these things so much Nora."

"See, told you the pancakes that Ren makes are something else!" she said to him, before laser focusing her gaze towards the still mostly full plate of pancakes still in front of Ragna. "...And I meant it when I sang earlier about not wasting any of these."

"Go right ahead, I'm not going to stop you," Ragna said as he handed Nora the plate back. Ren only gave him a subtle nod as he left, something that well reflected his more enigmatic and standoffish side. '_Might have to ask Ren how he gets his pancakes to turn out that way. Lord knows I could try to get my own version of these things to this kind of result.'_

The next dish didn't come out immediately, leaving Ragna to wait for the chef's to complete their work. When a dish was finally finished and brought to him, its makers were none other than the two students visiting from _Haven Academy_. Makoto and Mai's dish seemed to take Ragna's meal's straight from breakfast all the way to dessert. The thick texture told him that this was some kind of chocolate mousse, topped with some kind of cream which itself was topped with melted chocolate. As he waited for an explanation from the outgoing and talkative Squirrel Faunus, he was surprised to see that she wasn't saying a word and only motioned for him to try the food.

'_They aren't elaborating on what they made? Maybe they're trying to see if I'm more than just talk with my food critiques,'_ he guessed as he tasted a small spoonful and let the flavors wash over him as he tried to pick the flavors out. "Huh, there's a nutty taste to it. Have to say... chestnuts. And it's not just that they've been ground in as a topping, more like they've been pureed and added to influence the texture as well as the taste. Not a bad call, seeing how often chocolate and nuts are combined elsewhere. Toppings are a good fit too, the chocolate is different from the mousse itself and goes well with the cream."

"Helps that we've got someone who can tell the fine details about what we make!" Makoto said as she threw the judge a thumbs up. Ragna didn't know much about this girl, but compared to what he was used to dealing with she at least seemed pretty alright. "Think we've got a winner here?"

"You got a competitor, I'll give you that," Ragna said, knowing that he needed to stay neutral here... the fat good it was doing him at this point.

"It's a shame, I bet if Noel's cooking had made it out you would've had an instant win right from the get go," Mai noted, a statement that seemed to bewilder the crowd.

"You were the one that went and ate it in the first place," the Reaper reminded her. '_Not that I have ANY problem with that.' _"Both of you can head to your seat, I think I see the next dish heading my way."

"Sure thing! Looking forward to the results!" Makoto said as she and Mai walked off, past Pyrrah and Jaune. "I've got a good feeling about this, do you think we can make the top spot?"

"I don't know, Ragna didn't really seem all that excited by our Mousse," Mai guessed. "Then again, he didn't swear at us both at least... not that he's been doing that for most of the later dishes."

Meanwhile, Ragna was trying a bite of Jaune and Pyrrah's mushroom risotto. Even though Ragna had tried to put faith in his classmate, he couldn't help but feel that Jaune was a bit clumsy even at the best of times and a Risotto wasn't an easy dish to make. The combination of a difficult broth to rice ratio, coupled with a strict stirring speed, and several other factors going in made this a difficult dish to master. A dish like this likely would've been outside his comfort zone, even with someone with Pyrahh's confidence helping him. Judging the dish on its own merits seemed to tell a different story as no part of the creation looked watered down or dry and the plate full of food gave off a lovely aroma. Skewering one of the mushroom's with a fork and collecting some of the rice around it he gave the dish a try for himself. The texture of the mushroom was cooked perfectly through and came apart easily with each bite while the creamy rice nicely complimented it.

"I've gotta say I'm impressed," Ragna said as he realized the crowd was going to think he was being biased no matter what he did at this point. "I can tell you both from experience that this isn't an easy dish to make, but you both really seemed to have a handle on it."

"Thanks, but if it wasn't for Pyrrah here I would've probably tried to make a basic chicken noodle soup," Jaune admitted. "Even knowing how to make a risotto, I probably couldn't have pulled it off without her."

"Don't be like that, I told you that you'd make a great cook and you even had that old family recipe to try," the current _Beacon_ celebrity told him. "And you did most of the work, I was just here to give you a helping hand where you needed it."

'_So that's how it is,'_ the Reaper realized. '_Jaune's actually got a lot more potential in him than he's able to see; even I don't think I'd ever be able to do more than scratch the surface of it. But Pyrrah's got a different way of getting his potential out. And if this dish really is a reflection of his actual skill.'_ Ragna thought back to the one time Jaune had let his temper get the better of him, how much force was in the strike he'd given and what might've really been hiding behind it. '_He might actually be going places, but he's damned lucky to have support like that... I know I could've used some of that.'_ "Either way I'll see you at the end when I announce the winning dish, but your dish is definitely in the running."

"R-Really?" Jaune asked as he scratched the back of his head. Around him the audience was already murmuring about how kind Ragna's words had been, but he did his best to tune it out as the two headed back to their seats... only to be replaced with _another _blond haired leader and his redhead partner.

"I'm still trying to understand why Ozpin thought you'd be the best food critic in the academy... given your tendency to start fires by mistake," Jin could only comment with a sigh. Most of the time Ragna might've run his mouth against his younger brother, but given how unskilled at cooking he'd actually been before traveling he didn't exactly have the best grounds to argue on. Speaking of his past though, he saw that his brother and Celica had both made Curry with a accompaniment of Jasmine Rice. This had been a common meal back home, and a favorite of Ragna's. "And unlike the last group of idiots that tried to make this, I know enough to prepare my own mixture of spices."

Jin's comment was met with some obvious ire from a few of the students as the blonde saw him as everyone's better. Beside him, Celica only giggled nervously at her partner's behavior towards her schoolmates. Ragna only shook his head before taking a bite, surprised with how much of a taste of nostalgic home cooking Jin's cooking really was. While the rice didn't blend into the dish as much as Jaune's had and merely served as a base for the curry itself, Ragna could now experience both the curry's raw texture along with the rice as he saw fit. Jin combination of spices was nothing less than the work of a curry genius, the vegetables he'd chosen did well to compliment the dish, and there was even an underlying warmth that made him painfully nostalgic for his more carefree day. Amazing as the dish was though, there did appear to be a rather major component missing.

"I'm not getting any meat in this," Ragna decided to remind him as he set his fork down.

"And you shouldn't find any; that curry only takes use of the best prepared vegetables you can find," _JACK_'s team leader informed him with a scowl that made it clear to Ragna that he'd screwed up.

"That's right, I completely forgot you're a vegetarian," he groaned. '_Mom used to even make him a separate plate without meat because he'd cry about hurting the animals it came from... I can't believe he still doesn't eat meat after so long.'_ "Either way it's just what I was in the mood for... so thanks."

'_I must have done better than I'd thought if I'm able to get him to __**show**_ _that he's remembering our old home,'_ Jin considered. '_He won't admit that he's thinking about it to anyone. He barely allows me to see that side, his own brother...'_ Taking special note of the last group as they head to the stage, he sighed admittance. '_Though... I have to wonder how much he's let on about our past at this point to THEM.'_

"Bum Bum Bummmm! Ruby called with fanfare as she and Weiss brought the final dish of the day forward. "Preeeeesenting the final dessert of the night!"

'_I mean at this point my stomach's has to jump around meals so much that it really doesn't matter at all,'_ Ragna considered as he looked at the desert that the two had made. "Is that... _Strawberry Shortcake?_"

"You don't sound excited," Weiss noted as she openly glared daggers at Ruby, who was doing her best not to look guilty at her apparent mistake.

"It's not that, I'm just not a big sweets person in general. I have no clue how I'm supposed to judge something like this," he explained, not having taken his eyes away from the dessert. "More to the point... I've never had this stuff in my life."

"Y-You haven't!?" Weiss demanded as she looked at the dish. "Ragna! That's strawberry shortcake! Just about everyone's had that!"

"Then I exist in the minority that hasn't," the Reaper said bitterly.

'_...That's right,'_ Jin said as his eyes widened with honest concern. '_Not only has he never had it, but that was the dessert we were supposed to eat the night mom...'_ The blond swordsman winced as he thought back to a hellish point in his past. '_And there's no doubt, he remembers that fact clear as day...'_

'_And Weiss was thinking that we should've made something she was more familiar with,'_ Ruby thought. "E-Either way I don't think you'll have needed to try this kinda food before to know that you have a hit on your hands! The recipe that we used for the cake and cream is a family favorite, nearly as good as my mom's cookie recipe."

"Right, I keep hearing rumors about you and your obsession with those things," Ragna grunted. "In fact, why _didn't_ you bring cookies out to this?"

"Weiss thought it would be too obvious."

"BECAUSE IT WOULD BE THAT OBVIOUS!" she shouted. "But the recipe isn't the only thing that makes this dessert special. I enhanced our cooking station by using premium fire dust crafted by the _Schnee Dust Company_. We also used an ice based dust to chill the thick cream we used. I take it the resulting flavor will speak for itself."

"Well just have to see about that, won't we?" Ragna considered as he got a forkful of the cake, cream, and of course a bit of strawberry. '_They're my friends... but I've got to be fair and give them an honest review, even if it means tearing into them for this.'_ Taking a bite of the basic food...

The recipe was of course a simple one, a lot of work going into very basic results... but that wasn't to its detriment. Much like Blake and Yang's sushi from before, every part of this dish had been prepared perfectly. From its fluffy and air light cake, to the rich and smooth cream, to the fresh strawberry that leaked its juices into the other key components. Ragna didn't offer them any words of reviews, simply...

"Thanks for the treat."

'_...It's taking everything he can to stay composed on the stage right now,'_ Jin observed, looking at Ragna's barely shaking hands at his sides. He eyed the girls as they passed him by on their way back to their cooking station, confused with Ragna's non-review. '_I'm not saying that's a guaranteed win... but getting him that wordless takes obvious skill.'_

"QUIT STALLING!" came shouting from the stands.

'_Not that any of these idiots could see that.'_

"YEAH TELL US WHOSE DISH IS THE BEST SO WE CAN TELL YOU HOW WRONG YOU ARE!"

"HE'S NOT JUST WRONG! YOU"VE ALREADY SEEN HOW BIASED HE IS TO HIS FRIENDS!"

"I get the feeling that if he was really biased to his friends that he would've given us a scalding review no matter what we made him," Kagura noted.

"People will usually think whatever will allow them to hold onto their pride," Amane concurred beside his partner. "Though even I can't know for certain who will win the day."

"Even if it's painfully clear the groups that are up for taking the prize home."

Ragna didn't say anything, only heading off the stage and heading out the auditorium doors to backstage. This did nothing to garner support from the crowd, quite the opposite as they shouted insults at him and demanded that he finish what he started. Tsubaki came off from the side to address the crowd.

"We're terribly sorry, we're just handling a small house keeping matter at the moment. I promise my partner will have the results out shortly." Though her words were fair and her voice was calm, there was an underlying authority about her that wasn't unlike Instructor Goodwitch. Though their attitude hadn't changed, the crowd had at least silenced themselves enough to where she could leave the stage and find her partner...

...doubled over a garbage can and trying not to vomit.

"Don't tell me that's from Ruby and Weiss's dish," she demanded as Ragna shook his head, still fiercely holding onto his stomach. "Then what?"

"All of those dishes... were so damn drastically different..." Ragna muttered as his stomach lurched. "And all of them before Azrael's were so damn bad..."

"So all of the good dishes were really grouped in the end?" Tsubaki asked. Surprising both Ragna and herself, she gently began rubbing her partner's back to ease his discomfort. "Any idea who's going to win?"

"That's the other problem, none of them really have a single clear advantage over the others in terms of flavor," he admitted as he slowly started to rise, only to lurch forward again as his stomach continued to punish him.

"So... you'll just have to go with your gut?" she determined.

"Don't say gut," he whimpered, not unlike someone who'd had Noel's _Death Dinner_. Of course it wasn't that painful, but still. "Either way, I've got a contest to run and it wouldn't even matter if I tried anything to save face."

"Poor guy."

"...Heh, would you be doing this for me if this was still the start of the quarter?" the Reaper asked with a mild chuckle.

"Probably not... Wait, maybe you can't do anything to appease the crowd, but it's possible that I still can." Before Ragna could question what she meant, she'd gone back through the doors to confront the auditorium crowd. Thanks to his enhanced hearing, he just barely managed to hear what she was saying to the impatient crowd. "Sorry everyone for the wait, and I have to apologize for another problem we've had. This small device that I have here is supposed to censor Ragna when he swears for effect... but unfortunately the device seems to be malfunctioning so it wasn't able to contain his language. Thankfully I noticed the problem and Ragna caught onto my signals, otherwise his language would've only gotten further out of hand."

'_Wait, that's right! I didn't swear at all as soon as I got to the better cooking!'_ Ragna realized. '_I was too damn panicked to find a bad dish that I doubt I even could've tried to.'_

"That's why we needed Ragna to seem a little _nicer_ at the end of the competition. Sorry everyone, I'm sure your dishes were all amazing."

"Is that really true?" one of the unselected chefs asked.

"Look who's telling us; she's a model student and such a stickler for the rules that I think she's physically incapable of lying."

"Plus she hates her partner more than we do, no way she wouldn't take this chance to sell him out here."

'_Holy shit, it's working,'_ Ragna realized as his partner came back with a victorious smile on her face. "I..."

"Surprised?" she asked him jokingly. What she hadn't expected was for her Team Leader to get down on one knee and firmly grasp her hand. "Wh-what are you-!?"

"Please marry my brother! I'm begging you!" Ragna shouted in an... _odd_ display of gratitude.

"R-Ragna! I already told you that's not going to happen!" Tsubaki shouted, though such words were going against the obvious blush on her face. "A-And you should be more worried about choosing the winning dish! I might've made things easier to believe for the crowd, but you still need to make a decision out there."

"Don't worry about that, I'll make my decision and be done with it," Ragna promised... before doubling over yet again. "Once my ***BEEP*** stomach lets me... Get rid of that thing, it's supposed to be broken."

"No, I don't think I will," Tsubaki said as she held tightly onto the censoring device.

'_...Note to self, bribe Yang to break it.'_

_Meanwhile the Auditorium_

"Never would I imagine Miss Yayoi would go so far for her partner after the rocky start that the two of them had during their Entrance Exam," Ozpin noted from his seat off to the side with Goodwitch. "This bodes well for those two, the entire team, and possibly _Beacon_ itself with how far they could make it in the _Vytal Festival_."

"It almost sounds like you have a plan, but there's _no way_ whatsoever that you've been manipulating the events around either of them, least of all Ragna the Bloodedge." Goodwitch said irately in turn. "I swear, with all of the special privileges you've been giving him it's almost like you're not even allowing him the chance to fail."

"It's not that I can't allow him to fail, I've simply given him a chance for more suitable situations so that he might thrive in his work. He's had to work hard for the privilege to reap the benefits he currently does, though I'll admit he's certainly a promising investment for _Beacon's_ future." '_And quite possibly the Future of Remnant as we know it.'_ Trying to get out of his more serious thoughts, Ozpin then gave his colleague a sly smile. "But if I didn't know any better, I'd have to guess you're still bitter that you couldn't be his censor today."

"Hmph," Glynda huffed moodily. "You might've wanted me anyways, our resident foul mouth just got back on stage."

'_Let's get this over with,'_ Ragna told himself as he hoped his still aching stomach would be able to make it through announcing the winning pair. "Despite all of my swearing from the start, all of you did well in presenting your dishes." This was just a hollow lie to reinforce what Tsubaki was trying to do. Normally he didn't care what most people thought of him, but if his partner was willing to go through all of the trouble to help him it would be in his best interest to at least play along with her plan. "That being said, I've got to get a winning prize to one pair of cooks. And that pair is..."

_**Azrael and Noel**_

'_Giving the award to my own teammates is probably going to piss 'em off no matter what Tsubaki tried, but dammit if I don't want more of that Kick-Ass Chili.'_ "The prize goes to Noel Vermillion and Azrael."

"HAH!" the Mad Dog bellowed with victory as he slammed his fist into his open palm, managing to create a small shock wave. "If any of you weaklings have a problem with that, you're more than welcome to critique my chili yourself... IF it doesn't knock you out on your first bite."

"I... I can't believe it..." Noel said as her eyes started tearing up. "We won..."

"Technically Azrael won," Jin informed from the station besides them. "Your part of the dish never even made it to-"

"Hell yeah we won, blondie!" Azrael shouted, both silencing Jin's criticisms and bolstering Noel's self confidence. "So stand tall! Look proud! You're on top of the cooking world!"

"I.. I AM!" Noel said fiercely with renewed self worth... Jin wisely decided not to ruin the moment.

"Well that's great and all, but let's get to the mystery prize," Ragna said as he grabbed an envelope out of his pocket that Ozpin had given him earlier. "You both are getting-"

"_Exactly what I want."_

"I mean sure, if what you want is SHIT!"

Ragna just barely managed to dodge the _Mad Dog's_ wild swing at him as his teammate closed in on the stage in the blink of an eye. The Reaper recognized this kind of blood lust and knew that it wasn't going to be easy to talk him out of it.

"You think I want some paltry offering to a superior chef?! No no! What I need is a chance to prove myself again! This time WITH MY FISTS!" he then performed a powerful overhead kick that cracked the stage in half as Ragna leapt back.

"THAT WAS A KICK YOU IDIOT! AND WE JUST GOT PUT ON CLEANING DUTY FOR THAT RADIO SHOW DAMMIT!" the Reaper roared as he was forced to guard against Azrael full body tackle, though it still managed to send him off his feet. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING!?"

"I'm thinking that Noel should make food for the loser, something to heal their wounds with," Azrael offered sadistically.

"Really? Well Mai ate my coleslaw earlier, but I might have a recipe for puffer fish that-!"

"YOU KNOW WHAT!? I'M DONE PLAYING NICE WITH YOU!" Ragna shouted as he grabbed a spare frying pan and slammed Azrael over the head with it, though that only seemed to make the _Mad Dog_ even more eager. "MAYBE BEATING YOUR ASS OVER THE ACADEMY WILL FINALLY GET YOU TO SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP! COME AT ME YOU BASTARD!"

"_**THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK!"**_

As the titanic battle between the two unfolded, the majority students fled the auditorium screaming their heads off at the destruction behind them... Ozpin on the other hand only gave a heavy sigh, realizing that he'd caused more damage to his _Academy_ than he'd anticipated.

_**Amane and Kagura**_

'_Oh that bastard's never going to let me hear the end of this, and I doubt that dancer's going to be much better.'_ "The prize goes to Kagura and Amane for their Ramen."

"I made the flavors dance nearly as well as I can," Amane bragged.

"Any cute girls out there that need cooking lessons, be sure to let me know," the _Black Gale_ offered with a wink. "I'm sure that I'll be able to teach a thing or two to you lovelies..."

'_Annnnnnd this is already killing me, but I've made my choice so I guess I've got to live with it,'_ Ragna groaned as he opened the envelope containing their prize. "Looks like you both get a free class to... the hell is _Zumba?_"

"Our grand prize is a class to... learn _Zumba_," Amane repeated, showing distaste for the first time since anyone had seen him. "As if I need to be taught a class in the art of dance workouts! Why, I have half a mind to complain to-!"

"Don't ruin this for me!" Kagura shouted at his partner. "All of the girls there in sweatpants and sports bras... Sweat glistening on their skin... Their bodies _bouncing _with every movement... SIGN ME THE HELL UP!"

"...Upon further consideration I've decided to go along and accept the prize; perhaps I can teach that class a thing or two," the dancer reconsidered. "I have to wonder if shirts are optional for the men, do they need them to cling tight or are they allowed to bear their bodies to the world?"

'_God dammit, it feels like I'm entitling these perverts.'_

_**Blake and Yang**_

'_I know that picking these two is only going to cause more drama around the school, but if they make a sushi plate so damn good that my master would eat it without a second thought that's gotta mean something.' _"Your winners today are Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long."

"Freshness in your feast!" Yang shouted as he victor's cry. Blake as usual was doing her best to remain silent and was more than a little uncomfortable with all of the Academy's eyes on her though she still couldn't help but feel proud with their win.

"Way to go sis!" Ruby congratulated her sister, never one to feel bitter about a loss. "Maybe when we tell dad you actually won a cooking contest, he'll let you get within 6 feet of the stove again!"

"Not when he finds out that the only reason they won is because she _didn't _cook," Weiss reminded.

"Don't ruin this for me _Ice Queen_," Yang demanded, leaving Weiss to give a huff. "So what's the grand prize we just won? Don't keep us waiting now!"

"I'm getting to it, jeeze," Ragna muttered as he opened the letter. "Looks like it's-" Only to get the prize ripped out of his hands by Yang. "HEY!"

"You were talking too long," she said as she looked over her reward. "Awesome! Night club passes!"

'_Wait, what?'_ Blake's questioned in her head. Looking to Ragna for confirmation, the best he could give her was a casual shrug.

"That's right! We get four passes to the _Lunar Palace _Night Club! It's a VIP only dance club that's top reviewed in the city!" Yang elaborated with excitement. "I've been trying to get into this place forever!"

'_Guess I know what my plans are for tonight,'_ Ragna realized with a heavy sigh. '_Wait, if they got four tickets then that would leave one leftover. Who's it-?'_

"Operation _GIRLS NIGHT_: BEGIN!" Yang shouted as she grabbed Blake's arm before scooping up her sister and Weiss. There were shouts of protest for the three as she ran out the auditorium's exit to prepare for a night on the town.

'_Looks like you're getting left out of this one chief... Wait, why the hell am I disappointed? I hate dancing.'_

_**Nora and Ren**_

'_This might just be that my own hot cakes are usually pretty lacking, but these two know how to make a good stack of 'em. Enough to impress me anyways.' _"The prize is going home with Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren."

"VICTORY!" the mallet user shouted as she gave twin peace signs and held them high. Ren's reaction was a lot more subtle, simply giving the smallest smile and a nod to the man that had delivered the news. "Ren! You can at least _try_ to act excited!"

"But I am excited," Ren told her in a voice that wasn't any different than how he usually spoke... the weird thing was, most people believed that this would be how someone of Ren's character would emote '_excited.'_

'_Why are people saying that I'm his closest friend outside of Nora when I can't even tell what he's thinking half the damn time?'_ Ragna couldn't help but wonder. "Either way let's take a look at what you've coming your way as a reward." Reading through the details of the paper, it certainly looked like it was outlining the possibility of a double date, likely including their entire team. "It looks like you both just got reservations for the _Paradis Au Bord De L'eau_ restaurant in _Vale City_ that's good for up to a group of four_._ Normally you'd have to wait at least three months to even get a table at this place and have to shill out god knows how much for a decent meal, but this special pass will get you a reservation within the week at their best table and the group's meals will be paid for."

"Nice, sounds really exclusive and fancy!" Nora said eagerly, though Ragna sort of figured that she was really happy because this sounded like a romantic outing for her and Ren. "Oh man, I bet we'll all have to get super dressed, get our hair done, all of that stuff. Maybe we should wait a bit to call so we can-?"

"What day works for you?"

Nora stood in abject horror as her partner (without missing anything resembling a beat) had invited not her to the special dinner plans that were next to impossible to obtain, not Jaune his team leader... but an increasingly concerned Ragna. She felt herself shake as she fought desperately to get her temper under control.

"...Ren?" The way she simply spoke her teammate's name. There was a cold and dead stillness to it that would normally be impossible to affiliate with someone with Nora's disposition. Ragna knew that for this particular moment, he wasn't the Reaper in the room. "Why... did you ask him to dinner instead of your partner?"

"I didn't think there was much point to asking you," he answered honestly.

'_GOD DAMMIT REN! READ THE ROOM!'_

"I mean those tickets are already for us winning the contest, so it's already a point that we're going to this restaurant together. I decided to bring Ragna with me as a tag along, so now you can choose however you'd want to bring along as well."

Nora didn't say anything in response. Only breathing in deeply with her nostrils, she took out her scroll and started typing something out. Ren just gave a mild shrug as he headed for the top of the stage to get the tickets from Ragna, who couldn't stop staring at his friend with an awestruck expression.

"Thanks I think, but why are you looking at me like that?"

"...Three reasons," Ragna finally spoke with a sigh. "First off, you should know that I absolutely can't stand those high class hosh and posh places. I always feel like I'm choking on the atmosphere and the food you get there is never worth it, even if you're offering it for free." Ren scratched the back of his head, realizing he might've wanted to ask that this was something that Ragna even wanted to do. "Second... you're giving some people a couple of _really_ wrong ideas if you're asking me instead of Nora."

'_Wrong ideas?'_ It was then that Ren finally looked to the crowd and saw what Ragna was seeing, several girls and even a few guys who seemed... interested in his choice. It didn't take Ren long to realize what they were thinking and slowly begin to wonder just how long they'd carried these ideas about the two. "I... see. But wait, what's the third reason?"

"It's..."

_**CRASH!**_

"...That."

They both saw the locker crash through the ceiling. They both saw it land behind Nora. They both saw as she reached inside and grabbed out her prized hammer... before turning to face the boys with murder in her eyes. Giving a scream, she leaped high up into the air with the vengeance of a thousand damned souls.

"_**YOU IDIOTS!"**_

_**Mai and Makoto**_

'_Even though this is supposed to be a competition for Beacon, it looks like I've gotta give this prize to the two visiting students here. This has gotta sting for everyone, hell even Ozpin might be pissed with the choice... even if he probably won't show it. _"Mai and Makoto from _Haven Academy_."

"Squirrel power for the win!" Admittedly that some people weren't just unhappy with the fact that the winners were from outside the _Academy_, but that one of them happened to be a _Faunus_... that made it just a little more worth it for Ragna.

"Huh? But I thought for sure that Noel's dish would win," Mai had to mention.

"Like there's a chance in hell of that," Jin muttered under his breath.

"Oi, I still gotta present you both with your prize," Ragna called from the top of the stage, trying to get the situation both under control and over with. "Both of you, for winning the competition you'll be getting... you'll be getting... you'll..."

"Huh? What are we getting?" Makoto asked as she noticed Ragna's face slowly start to turn red. "What the-?"

"Ragna, what are you doing?" Tsubaki demanded as she finally joined her partner on the stage. "Just go and say the prize."

"I can't give them _THIS_," Ragna hissed so that only Tsubaki could hear him. "And who the hell would give this as a prize!? It's a damn-!"

"LINGERIE GIFT CARD!?"

The entire room was hit with the sudden shock of the prize's reveal and the... scandal that went along with it. Ozpin was confused... well he was mostly aghast, but well enough confused. Beside him Goodwitch said nothing, oddly not taking this chance to put Ragna in neck deep trouble. A small drop of blood fell from Kagura's nose, par for the course at this point.

"I had NO PART IN THIS!" Ragna shouted with a dramatic wave of his arms, trying to make his stance clear.

"Yeah right! You spend more time with an all girls team than you do with your own group!" one of the female students shouted from the stands.

"I bet this pervert planned this all along! This is completely repulsive!" shouted another girl

"You're not just two timing someone, it's even worse than that!" a third screamed.

'_It's kind of hypocritical when all three of you have already been seen making out with Kagura in broad daylight,'_ Tsubaki noted in her partner's defense, though she was still a little frazzled with the prize. "Hold on, there's already a name put on the card. It looks like it's made out to-"

_**SNAP!**_

Everyone jolted as the card snapped into pieces in front of them before they were flung to the far corners of the room. Ragna immediately turned to the only one who possessed such abilities, a blonde woman with a particularly peeved expression on her face.

'_That is the last time I let Litchi be a secret Santa...'_

_**Jaune and Pyrrha**_

'_In the short time since I've known him, Jaune's managed to grow leaps and bounds. And the thing is that he doesn't even know it, I gotta wonder what he'd actually be able to do with the right mind set... maybe we can get a look of that right now.'_ "The prize goes to Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos."

"U-Us?" Jaune said as he couldn't help but point to himself to try and confirm it was true.

"Is there anyone else named Jaune here at the _Academy_," Pyrrha questioned rhetorically with a smile. "You did really well in making that Jaune, I'm proud of you."

"Oh, uh... I think you probably ended up getting us that win," he told her modestly with an embarrassed blush, but a happy smile.

"You're both wrong, the whole point of this is that it's an effort between partners," Ragna explained to them. "You both add to the other's strengths, cover the other's weakness, and come up with a result that's better than the sum of its parts. You're going to need that kind of teamwork to get you through the road ahead." '_Like you're one to talk, jackass...'_

'_That... was very well said,'_ Ozpin noted with a small bit of teacherly pride. '_I hadn't expected these results, but it seems that even Ragna's surprises can be turned for the better on occasion.'_

'_Ragna and I still need to work on our teamwork, actually at this point I think that we'd need to establish it first,'_ Tsubaki realized. '_I guess this means we can try to take a page out of their book about working together.'_

"Philosophy aside, let's see what our winning pair's taking home with them," the Reaper said as he tried to get the prize announcement back on track. "And... Oh, looks like you're both going to be taking part in a photo op."

"We are?" Jaune asked before turning to Pyrrha. "You've done those before, haven't you?"

"Yep, and they're nothing to worry about," she promised. "You just need to pose for a few pictures, they've usually got a crew to make sure you're looking nice, and they've usually got a beautiful location to promote."

"Right, it looks like this one's taking place at the _Vale Cathedral_ to promote the Academy," Ragna further explained as he read through the prize details. "Both of you will need to show up in both your school uniforms and your combat gear for the photos. You'll also..."

"Also what?" Jaune had to ask, knowing by the face Ragna was making that he was in for trouble.

"...If the students wish for it, they will also have a few pictures taken of their special seasonal package. This package will provide the students with both a tuxedo and..." Ragna took a deep breath as he decided to let this chaos unfold. "... A _Wedding Dress_."

"A... A WHAT!?" Jaune couldn't help but scream as his face was flush a deep crimson. In addition to her hair, Ragna noticed that Pyrrha seemed pretty darned red herself. Behind them there seemed to be plenty of faces covered with a jealous rage, apparently pretty big fans of the Academy's local celebrity. Closer to the stage however...

"_HERE COMES THE BRIDE! HERE COME THE BRIIIIIIIIIDE~!"_

...You had Nora and Makoto.

"This isn't for real!" Jaune yelled in protest. "We're not actually getting married!"

"I know, I know..." the mallet user begam with a wicked smile on her face. "But it still might make good practice for the day you too actually do the knot."

"You realize that we don't have to _have_ to do the final photo op?" Pyrrha tried to say realistically.

"Maybe," Makoto admitted. "But are you both really sure you want to send the message that there's no chance between you two, that this is as far as either of you want the relationship to go? That you're both open to seeing _other people_?"

"We're-! I-!?" Jaune sputtered for a few seconds before he turned to the contest's judge, hoping to gain some sliver of guidance similar to when he'd needed training earlier in the year.

...Ragna had nothing.

_**Jin and Celica**_

'_Oh boy, if bais had already set them off so bad then they're going to give me a knife in back after I tell them I'm giving the prize to my own little brother. Ah hell, he earned this one though.'_ "Prize goes to Jin and Celica."

"Hmph, the rest of you _mongrels_ might want to take notes," Jin advised, earning more harsh glares from his poor winning attitude.

"I had a lot of fun competing, great work all of you!" Thankfully Celica was there to soften the blow a little with her cheery and well meaning demeanor. "So what kind of prize did we win? Is it a full cooking set? Are we going to appear on a special cooking show? Are we-!?"

"How's about I open the letter and you dial it back a couple of notches?" he suggested as he did just that. Celica giggled, showing that she was still really excited to see what the prize was. "Looks like you both are going to be set up with a double date to _Paradis Au Bord De L'eau_, one of those stuffy gourmet restaurants."

"It doesn't sound like you're a fan of that type of place," Celica realized.

"I'm really not, but it's not any of my damn business anyways. Prize goes to the two of you and whoever you want to bring."

"That's true, but..." Celica began sadly before she gave her usual bright smile. "I guess that just means we'll have to go out somewhere else on our date!"

"Yeah, preferably somewhere that doesn't- HOLD ON! WHAT!?" Ragna shouted. "Where the hell is that coming from!?"

"Well you said it was a double date, so of course I'm bringing you with me!" Celica said happily.

"You've got to be kidding me, that bastard's managed to sink his fangs into another one?" an angry (jealous) male second year called out.

"Jeeze, this guy's a total parasite," another decided (desperately wishing he could change places).

"SHARE DAMMIT!" ...The third was rather frank with what he wanted.

"Kagura is right here, you assholes," the Reaper muttered.

"That won't be happening."

"What the-? Jin?" Celica asked in shock. "Why not!?"

"I refuse to let you have Ragna as your date," he told her stubbornly... before his eyes turned sadistic and he grabbed out a carving knife. "BECAUSE BROTHER'S GOING TO BE MY DATE!"

"And he's back to _this_ version of this personality. Good lord," Ragna muttered, breaking the fourth wall even further with who he addressed next. "Oi, writer. Get us to the next possibility, things are going to get weird around here if you don't."

"NO BROTHER! LET ME TELL YOU ALL THE WAYS I'M GOING TO KILL YOU WHILE SOUNDING ODDLY SEXUAL ABOUT IT! OUR FANBASE CAN KEEP THIS CREEPY FETISH GOING!"

"NEXT SCENE!"

"Jeeze, and it's even between siblings? That is SO screwed up," Yang commented.

"Yeah, I'm glad that our fanbase never puts US together like that," Ruby added... with a scowl.

"For the love of..." Ragna could only grumble. "NEXT!"

_**Ruby and Weiss**_

'_The obvious crowd reaction that's going to come with this aside, and what this little dessert means for me, the cake that these two made... it was really something.'_ "The grand prize goes to Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee for their _Strawberry Shortcake._"

"We did it!" Ruby shouted as she threw her arms around Weiss which was actually returned.

"Of course we won; we had the _Schnee Dust Company_'s best product helping in the process," Weiss said haughtily. "Anything less than an absolute win would be an insult."

"Don't forget my family recipe! That had to weigh in as well!"

"...Maybe," Weiss could slowly admit. She honestly loved having so many eyes on her in this moment of victory... even if she knew there were several glares directed at Ragna for his decision. "Still, it was a good contest."

'_With seven of the other teams maybe,'_ Ragna thought as he considered how bad most of the early meals had been. Feeling his stomach give a lurch, he decided it was best not to think about it and just get the final announcement over with. "And you've won... two prizes. The first is a gift card to _Red Hawk Armories_, a prominent smithing agency with a heavy focus on transforming-"

"WEAPONS!" Ruby squealed with sparkles in her eyes. Ragna knew that this prize was going to get his best friend excited, but even he was just a little shocked with how much so. "And how much is the gift card for!?"

"...It looks like it's good for any two weapon enhancements you want; it can be the same weapon or applied to two different ones," he explained.

'_Red Hawk... that group's a direct competitor with my family since they sell Dust on the side,'_ Weiss thought, remembering all of the grievances her father had with the group. '_I can't be seen shopping there, even if it's only for my weapon I need to-!'_

"Gimme!" Ruby screamed as she used her speed semblance to blitz forward and grab the card right out of Ragna's hand. "Weapons await!" Still using her speed semblance, she scooped up her partner and headed out the academy doors.

"Ruby! Wait! I can't be seen shopping at-!" But her protest seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"...There was another prize in here," Ragna said, though the winners were likely a full mile away by now. "And here I thought leading with a lifetime supply of cookies would be the _bad_ move."

"They always say lifetime supply," Yang commented. "But in Ruby's case..."

"An hour?"

"Half of one at best."

_**?**_

"The prize goes to... none of you."

With all of the shit that the crowd had been prepared to give Ragna earlier, they didn't actually have anything to comment on this. Here they'd been so prepared for him to announce two of his close friends, his family, or his (in their eyes) harem as the winners, but now he was saying that there wasn't going to be a winner at all. Even Ozpin for all of his planning didn't seem to have anything to say about this... though _Goodwitch_ was already planning a punishment for Ragna should this go poorly.

"But... you have to announce a winner. ...Don't you?" Ruby asked from down below.

"Ragna! What are you doing?" Tusbaki hissed at her partner, knowing that what she'd done for him earlier was about to go to full waste. "You can't just leave us here without a winner!"

"I don't think he is!" Celica Mercury said cheerfully. "I think he's just telling us that he can't announce a winner because _WE ALL WIN!_" ...People found that just a little hard to believe coming from someone like Ragna. "All the food he tasted was so good that he couldn't just pick one dish! We're all going home with-!"

"Sorry, but no. Over half of those dishes were complete shit anyways," Ragna said, once again making the crowd enraged with his behavior. "Like I said, _none_ of these dishes are the winner. Not even any of the halfway decent ones."

"Ragna the Bloodedge, you are going against your duties and acting completely outrageous," Ozpin said, for the first time sounding cross with the Reaper. "I chose you for this event because I trusted that you'd be able to give an interesting set of commentary and be able to select a winning dish at the end. Are you truly unable to do this?"

"No, I'm not," Ragna told him simply. "But the real winner of this contest..."

Ragna then grabbed the stage curtain and tore it off with amazing force, revealing one final cooking station behind him with a tower of quality meats, spices, and other ingredients that might go into preparing a sauce. Looking back to the students, the Reaper had a crazed look in his eyes.

"_**IS ME!"**_

"What's this asshole doing now!?" one of the students from the stands shouted as Ragna leaped over to his personal cooking station. "How can he just announce himself the winner like that!?"

"I call bullshit! He shouldn't have even been the judge in the first place!"

"This was a total waste of time! I should sue the school for-! ...What's he doing?"

"What the hell!? How's he moving in a complete blur like that!? I can barely make out what he's doing!"

"And how's the meat getting cooked that quickly!? He's barely putting it in the flame and it's coming out perfectly cooked seconds later!"

"The way he's moving... It's like he's breaking the laws of physics just by cooking!"

In less than a minute Ragna had the previous tower of meat cooked through, seasoned, sauced, and skewered. A full ten tables worth (no idea where those came from) of his signature barbeque laid before him as he looked on the shocked faces of the school. His arms crossed in complete dominance, he gave everyone a nasty sneer.

"Well? Give it a try, why don't you?"

"What the hell is this? Aren't you supposed to be the straight man in these jokes?" Azrael grumbled as he looked around, everyone else was too terrified to even approach. "Fine you cowards, I'll try it myself." The _Mad Dog_ took one bite of food, one SINGLE bite of food... before bowing to Ragna's feet. "I AM NOT WORTHY!"

"Azrael? What are you..." Tsubaki couldn't even finish her own semblance before she was hit by the overwhelming urge to also try her Team Leaders cooking. Like with her teammate, all it took was the one fight to get her defenses to crumple. "This isn't food, it's..."

"_**THE WORK OF GOD!"**_ Ragna bellowed. At that point there was no use resisting; the whole student body no matter how much some of them hated Ragna rushed forward like animals all to get a single taste of the food before it was gone. Like with all the others, it was long before they were singing his literal praises.

"ALL HAIL TO RAGNA! THE UNDISPUTED KING OF COOKING!" they all chanted in their food filled bliss.

"_**ONWARD MY ARMY!" **_Ragna called and they all obeyed him. "_**MY GOD CRAFTED COOKING WILL HAVE CONQUERED VALE BY THE END OF TODAY! AND SOON THE WORLD!"**_

"...And I've created a complete megalomaniac through his culinary abilities," Ozpin noted with a heavy facepalm. Turning beside him he expected to get some remarks from Goodwitch along the lines of _I told you so_, only to find that she'd departed with the rest of the army. "Not the way I expected today to go..."

_**Author's Note**_

_**Be honest, who kinda wants to see a continuation of that last ending where Ragna somehow conquers Remnant through cooking alone?**_

_**Either way, I'm afraid that wouldn't be happening for a while. My chapters have been suspect to a few delays, but I feel like I need my stories to start going places. My new goal is to bring out new chapters on the main story until I'm done with the Arc. I've already got a road map in mind, so it shouldn't be too bad.**_

_**Anyways, leave a review and let me know what your favorite ending was/ who you thought should win. I'm honestly curious.**_

_**So I've got reviews from two chapters to tackle, so let's get to it.**_

_Chapter 8_

_EpicLinkSam_: It's Panne from Fire Emblem Awakening, but I let you know that earlier.

_Wlyman2009_: My first time writing something with her... I honestly don't write a lot for Litchi in general.

_ArmantusCumPinnae_: If Ragna found something like that... OH GOD NO.

_The Unplanner_: A typo, but you had a funny idea for it

_P3R50N4_: If I did have that happen again, I'd have to think who she'd try it with. I certainly couldn't do it with Goodwitch just yet, as that has to be the grand finale.

_Chapter 9_

_EpicLinkSam_: The less said about modern day Disney, the better. But thanks for the tribute you made for this on your channel.

_Wlyman2009_: Mine as well, though _Lady and the Tramp_ is my close second.

_The Unplanner_: Thanks for the lengthy review.

_Mugen7_: Cat Ears are amazing and the whole mess was worth it for Ragna in the end.

_Fernandamichelleraya_: Not... exactly, all will be revealed later on.

_BloodedgetheReaper2113_: That ending was an idea I'd had brew around for over half a year.

_Zero_: Yep

_ 12345_: Turns out that it's actually been used for a few of these things, which I didn't realize until I made this.

_Guest_: Thanks.

_Yuki Terumi_: A true piece of art, eh? High praise coming from Terumi... in two different reviews.

_Bismarck Alexander_: A lot to ponder over, but I'm glad we cleared things up over PMs.

_Paladin9800_: Great to hear from you as always.

_**Until Next Time! Ciao!**_


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